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It's something we do a lot- drive around and look for the perfect house in the country.
There some specific things for which we always look. A few "outbuildings" is certainly nice-- an barn, a shed for the well, an old chicken coop. More is definitely better. A well-kept yard with lots of flowers is high on the list too. It wouldn't stay that way for long, but one can dream.

The most important factor in a nice country home is trees. There must be lots and lots and lots of trees. Not just one in the front yard, or one shading the carport, but trees all over the place- and big enough to climb.

There's nothing sadder (at least in this context) than a house that's old enough to need major renovation that's sitting in the middle of a dusty, flat, treeless yard because no one ever took the time to plant a single tree.

There's one house we drive past on the way to my sister's that we really love. It's got so many trees that you can't even see the house in the summer time. It's got fruit trees, grape vines, oak trees, redwoods, flowers, and eucalyptus trees. The house is on about 10 acres, and I think the owners must have planted one of everything.

I'd like for my life to be like that piece of property- strong character in the middle with lots of accomplishments and good deeds growing in the yard.

We've actually called the people that own this house—just to see if they were thinking about selling it. "We started plantin' those trees in 1986 when we moved out here. We've done it all ourselves."

Wow. I'm still impressed. Their place is magnificent, and it was a bare piece of ground only 20 years ago?! And it all started with digging one hole and putting a seedling in it.

I don't want to be 70 years old with an empty yard and a drawer full of seeds. There are things I want to do and things I want to be that will never happen if I don't get out the shovel. Proverbs 14:23 says it well. "All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty."

What thing do you really want to accomplish? You can't graduate from college unless you first enroll. You can't lose weight if you don't skip the next second helping. You can't get out of debt until you pay off the first twenty dollars. You can't renew an old relationship if you don't pick up the phone.

What tree do you want to grow? Which one will you plant this year?

"Chip Shots from the Ruff of Life" from Tom Kelley

The Curse is Gone