Still learning

We've lived here for 5 years this July.  Un-un-un-un.  And though it does feel normal by this point, I'm still amazed.  "Time flies."

I can remember back to the spring of 2008 when I was so utterly horrified by the amount of flies in the house.  They came creeping and crawling out of the cracks and buzzed at the windows en masse when the weather warmed up a bit.  Oogie, it was gross. 

(And I don't know why . . . but it hasn't been as bad the past couple of years.  I can't imagine we've done anything different?  Maybe 2008 and 2009 were particularly bad "fly years".)

With that, I was shocked to understand the purpose in the fly-tape I had previously observed in rural homes.  I had always thought it was so disgusting, wondering why on earth anyone would want something so repulsive in their house . . . then finally realizing what a necessary evil it was.  Fly-tape covered in dead flies is better than the little buggers buzzing all over your house.

Well, now I've come to another realization.  One that involves dirty carpet at the bottom of the steps of an outside entry.  Yuck.

We use our back door as the primary entrance in our home.  It's closer to the garden and garage and just easier.  But.  When the sunroom was added on to the house, the previous owners never installed a cement patio, sidewalk, or even proper steps.  The steps to get up to the sliding-glass door are nothing more than stacked cinder blocks.  This is a project on our long-term TO DO List that just hasn't had priority due to time and the intimidation factor.

However . . . as the years pass, things are getting dirtier and dirtier.  Where there used to be grass, we now have a growing DIRT PATCH with a 1-2 foot radius at our back entry.  It is ugly.  But worse, it is filthy.  We are tracking dirt and pebbles into our sunroom entry like you wouldn't believe.  It looks like a dirty sandbox after 1-2 days.  Very disheartening. 

I never contemplated cement landings at the bottom of stairs.  They were always just there in the city and suburbs.  (And I'm sure in many-to-most rural settings as well, but not at our house.)  But now I understand their purpose: the grass and ground will wear away with that much traffic.  Duh!  I'm so sthmart.

Which brings me to something else I've turned my nose up in the past.  Dirty carpet at the bottom of steps.  Revolting.  But folks are just trying to keep their houses a little cleaner, right?  Yes.  And while I know our temporary solution will not involve dirty interior carpet attempting to stave off the inevitable, I finally understand why it was there.  It makes sense to me.

I'm still learning.  Always.