I have seen a lot of apologetic clients.

They reach out, describe their yard with embarrassed exhaustion, and somewhere in the mess they say something like I'm sorry, I know it's a disaster or I don't even know where to start, it's kind of a total wreck.

And every time, I have the same gut feeling.

Excitement.

A messy yard is not a problem. It is an opportunity. And the worse they describe it, the more interested I become.

year ago today I was sitting on the floor of my studio apartment surrounded by boxes. Not packing boxes. Not yet. Just the regular accumulation of a life I had carefully built. I had been studying for my licensure exams for months. The finish line was close enough to see. And then someone appeared in the doorway, and I knew — before a word was spoken — that everything was about to rearrange itself into something unrecognizable.