Unseasonable Weather

It's been a bit of a stormy winter.

Last month it was record-cold for New Orleans... days below freezing- and heating bills almost as much as my part of the rent! Some neighbors wrapped up their plants like gift baskets, in little plastic shawls to keep the cold out of their xylem. Lots of our greenery took it hard. One of our biggest trees in the backyard (I think it is a rubber tree) was particularly injured... its leaves are all brown and droopy, and fall off like dewdrops at the touch of your hand.
Thus, half of our yard was covered in floppy foliage of various crunch-and sliminess.
So, since, thanks to antibiotics and a good amount of rest, I am feeling significantly more chipper than yesterday, I decided to go spruce up a bit behind the house.

Things I found while cleaning the backyard:

-a wild looking grasshopper shaped like a bud of new leaves
-a whiffle ball
-a golfball
-a ripe tangerine on our tree
-a worm (I gave him a new home in the compost pile)
-a glass bead
-a Corona bottle
-a votive candle holder
-a beach ball
-our dustpan

Things I found out while cleaning the backyard:

-Our barbecue is thoroughly dead. Granted, it was sketchy quality at best half a year ago... and has since been sitting outside. I started scooping the old charcoal out of it and laughed when I noticed the small hole where the rust had eaten through the bottom of it. My laughter must have caused a ripple in the air pressure because almost instantly one of the orangey-brown legs fell off. I tried to prop that one back into place and the other front one fell down. I picked it up and started moving it toward the "we-probably-should-throw-this-away" pile, and the back legs collapsed as well.

-Winter storms can be cleansing.