Gratitude!

It is important to feel gratitude! 

I often think of the people in my life that I regard as my teachers and then I try to think of the most important lesson they have taught me. 

My father was an important teacher to me. I have decided that the most important lesson he taught me was to finish what you have started. When things get tough and you have started a big project it is good to have an inspirational person to think about.

I was about ten years old when I asked Anders (my dad) if I could paint the fence. It was summer holidays and I was bored. The fence consisted of maybe forty or fifty posts that were painted red with wire between them. He replied

- Of course you can paint the fence. But you have to be aware that if you start painting it I demand that you finish it today.

I was quick to get started. It was a reasonably nice day to paint a fence and it was really fun. I kept at it all day but at the end of the day I was starting to get tired. At the evening meal the job was not finished and I asked if I could continue the following day. Anders said

- I told you at the start so you knew what you were in for, so you have to go out and finish it.

I was not happy. It was really dark when I was on my knees painting the last few posts. I finished the job but never asked to be allowed to paint the fence again.

At the moment I am washing the white picket fence that Dad put up a few years before he died (2008). He sawed every piece himself and I think that even if many pieces now are half rotten we have to keep it a bit longer as a memory of him. It looks a lot better after I have scrubbed it. But I don't know if it is any point spending a lot of money on paint on this old fence. So many stumps and planks are rotting away. 

Today I am so happy. The fence consists of 27 parts with 14 pickets on each and I only have three left to wash. By tomorrow the job will be done and Mum and I can have a small celebration. How long it took? Well, if I finish it tomorrow it took me altogether nine days. Feels good to finish a big job.

This is what the fence looks like after cleaning it:

The tallest tree stands in the middle of the garden and it is under dispute at the moment. It is an Ash. This is a tree that Dad planted and it can apparently get really old and up to 30 meters high. Anyhow it is a tree connected to Nordic mythology. The Yggdrasil tree was an Ash so it is sort of a tree of life. I really like this tree but some in my family thinks that it will get too big and ruin the pipes under ground so they want to cut it down.  I think it will make me really sad if that happens.