The unavoidable mess

My septic tanks got replaced yesterday.

This change has been needed for a long time. Really long. I knew about the problems we were having for a couple of years, but I just couldn’t pull the trigger. It is expensive to replace the whole system, y’all.

Last year I decided to get the job done. I was going to redo the system we had and get rid of the poo sprinklers once and for all! And then they sent the estimate to me. Yikes. Apparently the poo sprinklers were here to stay.😳 But again, I never signed the paperwork and no replacement was installed.

Then a few months ago, the ground around the septic tanks was wet and soggy.

Crap.

L.I.T.E.R.A.L.L.Y.

My procrastination was over. I called, signed all the papers, paid the deposit, and waited. Rain and rain and even more rain created an abundance of work delays. Then, after several days of beautiful sunny weather, the trucks rolled onto my property yesterday.

My backyard is a disaster.

In my head, this process was going to be much more simple. It is not. A tree is down. The piles of dirt are unbelievably massive. The new poo sprinkler line goes across my ENTIRE yard—and yes, they had to add another sprinkler because the city requirements have changed in 20 years. My yard is a mess.

Last night around 6 pm, my doorbell rang.

“We finished!”

I realized that he meant I had a working septic system. But that is all that is done. The twenty-foot hole in the ground still remains, as does all the dirt piles and the neverending trenches for the new sprinkler line. The mess lives on!

Unfortunately, sometimes the mess is unavoidable. There is no clean way to install new septic tanks. You cannot put something underground without digging up the dirt first. I have to keep reminding myself of this truth.

We are not so different, to be sure. Any real, lasting change we make comes with an unavoidable mess. It has to be this way. No mess=no change.

I’m not loving my disaster of a backyard right now. It looks horrible. And the timing—right before Easter weekend—could be better. 🙄 However, I know the mess won’t be here forever. It will get cleaned up, and while evidence of the replacement will show in my yard, things will get better.

This is true for my yard, for me, and for you.