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Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Sunburned and Exhausted

I am sunburned and exhausted. I worked out in the lawn today on a project where I procrastinated for over two months. I dislike raking. It is an action that has unnatural strokes to it and pulling seems to be more difficult than pushing. Today, however, I decided to tackle this task. I raked a piece of property where I previously cut down old apple trees and unwanted shrubs. I cleared the area a while ago and mowed the weeds every two weeks. This project meant that I was to rake the many twigs and branches that littered the ground. I also moved rocks and pulled up roots of invasive weeds. Also, large piles of wood chips were once dumped on the property so it meant that I would have to use a pitchfork to move the decaying pile.

The result is beautiful.

Also, I am sunburned on my neck and arms because the UV rays penetrated the haze. Ouch! I know better than that but it was too hot to put on my over-shirt. I was foolish.

I gave a retreatant a tour of the grounds when I found him weeding a flower bed bare-handed. Though he was helpful, he was not wearing gloves in an area where there is a small amount of poison ivy. I'll check on him tomorrow.

I had an encounter with a resident of North Gloucester who parked on our property. He comes to the Retreat House because he wants to bring his boys on the rocks. Fair enough. I let him know that he was parking on private property that is my private residence and he was not welcome to do that. He protested and said he was a Christian. I told him I am as well, but that he was still trespassing on private property and the property is reserved for retreatants. He told me that because he was a Christian he had a right to come onto our property and enjoy it. I asked him to challenge his assumptions. He kept wanting me to solve his problems about where he should park so he could come to the ocean. I reminded him that he lives in North Gloucester and to realize the ocean is all around him. He can go anywhere he likes.

It is a dilemma to offer hospitality to people while they are on retreat. Hospitality is a key Christian virtue, and it is a challenge to set up healthy boundaries. Most laws and rules are created to protect people from the boundary transgressions of other people. What a dilemma - balancing hospitality in your own house while communicating healthy boundaries to others.

Time for bed now that it is midnight.

4 comments:

  1. Oh, I hope your retreatant didn't get poison ivy. You've really made it beautiful around the property. Last month, I ran into a group looking for a park.

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  2. I am glad you protected the privacy and safety and well being of your invited retreatants and did not increase the Jesuits homeowners insurance rate. If strangers fell on the rocks, you could be potentially liable etc. I know you want to be good neighbors and offer hospitality. Perhaps, offering a tour and strawberry shortcake to the historical society or a cookie and sing a long at Christmas.... If you have not already done so, I would post a nice sign that it is private property. I posted several posts back on your other blog on some decorating ideas for your new space envisioned. not sure whether you saw that. If you desire a fish tank for the teen space, we had good luck with Biorb brand off the Internet. Take care.

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