Sure, we have a few more weeks left of Ol’ Man Winter, but this past week, the temps finally broke out of the nightly teens and daytime highs hit the 50’s for a few days.

That means it’s time for the annual yard clean-up.

Now, if you’ve read past blogs, you know that I like yard work about as much as I like passing a kidney stone or suffering through a bout of shingles, but surprisingly – this year it’s been a little different.

Now that I’m retired (is he really going to keep rubbing that in our faces?), I find that some decent weather is a good excuse to get out of the house, stretch the legs, and get a few things done.  That being said, now that I have more time on my hands, I find that I am following the Italian principle of “la vita lenta” (“the slow life”), which means that I can work on a task for an hour or so and then set it aside, knowing I can come back to it later.

In the case of yard work, that means I don’t have to get the entire fence line cleared in one day (as I would have when I was a working stiff) because that’s the only day I can set aside to get it done, but I can break the task up into small bites.  One day I raked out the leaves, the next day I pulled all the dead vines from the chain link fence.  “Poco a poco” (“little by little”), as they would say in Tuscany.

I won’t say that this new outlook has made me fall in love with yard work, but it sure makes it more bearable, and I’m actually getting a lot done.  I’ve swept out my attic and basement steps, started to prep my garden beds, and have been culling and re-organizing my basement areas – all a little at a time each day.

All of this work during the week allows me to enjoy another Italian principle on the weekends.  “Dolce far niente” (“the sweetness of doing nothing”).  A nice Sunday dinner, a glass of wine, and an afternoon nap.

Those Italians sure do know how to live.