This weekend my husband and I had a great time building a new fire pit in the backyard. This involved shoveling shells. Now, you may not think of shells as something to shovel. You think of bark mulch, dirt, and mostly snow when you think of shoveling something, but in our case, this weekend, we were required to shovel shells into a wheel barrow and cart them around to the back yard. (BTW – the fire pit is awesome)
Yesterday we removed the sod, lined the area with gray bricks, and set up the fire pit. Today was the day for surrounding it with clam shells. Back and forth, shovel and dump, for the better part of the afternoon. I remarked to my husband on the last load that I was glad it was the last load because this was getting old. He replied that he just can’t describe it. It’s not like shoveling snow or dirt or mulch or anything else he’s ever shoveled, but it was hard.
As I was shoveling that last load I concluded that shoveling shells was a lot like life. It comes in pieces big and small. No piece is exactly the same as any other piece, much the same as the people that cross our life paths. Each one is broken and irregular, but beautiful in its own right. When put together, they form a beautiful space. Shoveling shells is hard, but you embrace the work in anticipation of the beautiful finish, just like the projects we undertake each day. Hauling them is necessary. It gets them where they need to go, like the crosses we all bear. Heavy, but necessary for beauty and growth.
And so, as another day goes by, the shoveling is done for today, time to relax and enjoy the effects of the effort, top it off with homemade white peach sangria in a mason jar, and…I have written.
White Peach Strawberry Sangria:
Blend white peaches and strawberries into a thick liquid.
Pour over ice.
Add your favorite white wine.
Stir and…yum!
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