SUMMER 2012

This was written before Oscar Pistorius was accused of the death of his girlfriend.

Oscar Pistorius.  If you do not know the name yet, you will soon.    Oscar is the South   African Olympic runner that made it in to the Olympics as a double amputee.  Not the Para-Olympics, but the regular Olympics.  He runs on carbon fiber legs and competes with able bodied athletes with two healthy god given legs.  Oscar is the epitome of what the human spirit can do when you set your mind to overcoming obstacles.

This summer you may have seen me hobbling around on crutches with my foot in a cast or a boot.  On June 9th, I broke both bones in my leg right above my ankle while riding a jet ski.  I had to have surgery and had a plate, seven screws and two pins put in.  Here is a picture of my x-ray.

It has been very frustrating considering my whole job is based on walking.  At times, I have become discouraged, frustrated and even angry with my situation.  Then, you turn on the TV and see Oscar Pistorius running in the Olympics on two legs made out of some space age material and it puts you right back into your place.

No matter how bad you think your situation is, somebody out there has it worse.  They have taken what most of us would see as a giant obstacle and turned it into a blessing and an example of not only how to succeed, but how to triumph in the success.  Oscar has made my little broken leg look tiny and simple to deal with.  A piece of cake.  Thanks for the lesson Oscar!

This Summer the extensive heat and drought that this area has suffered has been a challenge and  an obstacle to healthy grass.  Here is where I am going to say something that you probably would not expect from an owner of a lawn company, but… it is just grass.  Grass is resilient and can recover.  If not, we can always grow more.  Yes, it may cost a little bit of money to seed, but in the big scheme of things replacing some dead grass is a very small obstacle to overcome.  – Cary Carlson