Last spring, my neighbor’s toddler ended up in the ER with something called toxocariasis. Never heard of it? Neither had I, until the doctor explained it came from parasites in dog poop. The kid had been playing in their backyard where their two labs did their business. One handful of contaminated dirt, one absent-minded finger in the mouth, and boom—three weeks of medications and a $4,000 hospital bill. That was my wake-up call. Living in…
I’ve lived on horse property in Colorado Springs for eight years now, and I can tell you that manure management is one of those things nobody warns you about when you’re dreaming of owning horses. You focus on finding the right property, building the perfect barn, getting your fencing sorted out. Then reality hits and you’re dealing with tons – literally tons – of horse waste every year. Two horses generate about 20 tons of…
“That sound you’re hearing is your future self thanking you,” my doctor said, reviewing the MRI of my lower back. The bulging disc at L4-L5 wasn’t catastrophic, but it wasn’t going away either. “How did you injure it?” she asked. My answer surprised us both: “Leaves. Just… leaves.” Ten years of stubbornly managing my quarter-acre property’s seasonal debris had finally caught up with me. What began as weekend warrior soreness in my thirties had graduated…
Last spring, I stood in my backyard surveying the aftermath of my neighbor’s unfortunate DIY dog waste cleanup attempt. After weeks of neglect through a snowy winter, he’d spent a Saturday afternoon frantically collecting months of accumulated waste from his lawn. Despite his efforts, the damage was done—large patches of his once-lush grass had turned yellow and brown, creating a polka-dot effect across his yard. Meanwhile, my lawn remained consistently green despite my two energetic…