-Isms: Views on life in rural America

Every year about this time, I start making grand plans.

This is going to be the summer I get things done.

I'm going to organize closets. Pull weeds before they become a crop. Hose off the deck. Clean the garage. Maybe even tackle those projects that have been sitting on my to-do list so long they've become family heirlooms.

The motivation arrives right on schedule, usually sometime in May when the first warm breeze blows through and the trees start leafing out.

By June, however, that motivation has often wandered off.

I'm not sure where it goes.

One minute I'm standing in the yard thinking, "I...