Easter relaxation

Technically every Sunday is a celebration of the resurrection, but this isn't a theology blog, so I'll save that issue for another time. But it's also the day we're not supposed to engage in our employment, so here's how I relaxed today: If you read yesterday's post, you know about the tree. I pretty much ignored that today, though Joshua hauled off a fair amount of the brush. He stacked it out in the fire pit, and I think we'll have a bonfire on April 5 when the Civil Air Patrol cadets are here after a public service event. But I have an area in our backyard where I plan to put in a shed, and the area needs cleaning and leveling, and there's a big tree on one end, so I'm expecting a few roots. Now—I have to tell you about our neighbor, Martin, the best neighbor in the world. I'm pretty sure he's a messenger from God, because he always shows up whenever I need help with something. In fact, the one time I was thinking to myself that I needed him and he didn't show up, it turned out that if he had come over to help, I would not have discovered a problem that I didn't know I had. Details on request. Anyway, he stopped over and remarked that he happened to have a rented front-end loader in his driveway that I was welcome to use on that area that needs work. He showed me how to operate it and I spent the afternoon being a Big Construction Worker. Good thing: The area turned out to be a mass of roots, and I needed to remove about a foot of hard clay soil, and haul it out to the pasture. That task would have taken me a couple months of hard labor with a mattock, shovel, and cart. As it was, the only digging I had to do was transplant about a eight bushes and a bunch of bulbs. I removed about a dozen loads of dirt, and Martin even supplied a laser level to measure the elevation with. Relaxation? I'm tired, but not as beat as yesterday. There' still more to do, but using that loader saved my life. Or at least my back, not to mention a lot of time. Thank you, Lord, for Martin. The Shangri-La diet is pretty simple. Here's the gist: Take a couple hundred calories (about a tablespoonful or two) of extra light olive oil every day. Other oils work, too, and so does sugar water. It needs to be flavorless. Oil is easier than sugar water because there's less, and you don't need to prepare it. What happens is it makes your weight set point go down (the long-term equivalent of spoiling your appetite), and you get full a lot faster, and aren't as hungry, and you don't think about food. So you eat less, and lose weight. No pain, and no gain, to misuse a phrase. More about set point next time.