Hole

There's a huge hole in my front yard. A bottomless pit, it seems.

I discovered it a few years ago when I was innocently mowing the lawn and my right leg suddenly went straight down to China. It all made sense - it was in the same spot where a mighty oak had stood for years. It toppled over while we were all in Ithaca for H's college graduation in 1994. I hadn't been able to get the stump taken care of properly at the time - there was a concern that there might be concrete somewhere inside, and equipment would be ruined. But over time it was somehow taken care of and pretty much forgotten - until the mowing mishap. Since then a spring ritual has been a trip to Home Depot to buy multiple bags of their cheap topsoil, each time thinking, "this will surely take care of it". Today I added another 200 pounds. I doubt if I'm finished with it.