A few months ago, I had my yard re-graded due to some drainage issues. I filled in a drainage ditch and fixed it up with rocks, raised my front yard about a foot, sloped the earth away from the house, put in French drains – you name it, I obsessed over it. It was perfect.

Nature loves to tease a perfectionist, so here’s where the fun begins. The summer thunderstorm season rolled in, washing away my rock garden. And I do mean AWAY – huge rocks, tons of dirt, and several bales of straw, bobbing off downstream like Huckleberry Finn. Those same storms pushed around my nice, smooth lawn and left me with lumps that were quickly hardened by the sun. Lumps! The very idea!

Naturally, my first impulse was to go rent a bigger, louder bulldozer – to beat that earth into submission, or die trying! However, one afternoon I stopped to notice the breeze, and I heard it – it was unmistakable – it was the sound of nature chuckling at me. OK, you win, I get it, there will be more storms. To make this work, I’m going to have to work with what I’ve got, let go of some control, and relax a little. But only a little – I still have my eye on that ditch.