Dedicated yard day
It’s Saturday and I have looked forward to this day all week. Yes, those boxes are still piled up all over the house but today I will not deal with those. I will work in the yard all day, if my back will let me. It seems like it’s been a long time since I was able to dedicate an entire day and from the looks of it you can bet it really shows too!
I’m ashamed to call myself a gardener and the only reason I can is because who else but a true gardener looks forward to spending an entire day weeding and mowing! On a weekend too! Most folks are lying around relaxing or doing something fun but you see, I find this a labor of love. It’s not the work itself that is so gratifying; it’s the result I crave. That manicured look makes me feel like I have control over my life. More so outside than inside my home, I guess that is where my true nature lies. If my flowerbeds are weed free (which almost never happens) and my lawn (all 5 acres) is mowed. I feel in control.
I am not crazy about summer gardening though. This time of year my garden looks the least manicured. Some would say that’s putting it lightly. On some level I have accepted this, I’m getting older, the heat is unbearable and even though I love breaking a sweat, Florida heat is just not normal. It saps the life out of you if you’re in it more than a few hours. Sometimes it takes only minutes. So I forgive myself knowing that I cannot stay out there as long as I used to.
I have found an agreeable way to work this out though. I work really hard in the morning, then I go in for lunch and then I take a nice nap. Now, even a year ago this was totally unacceptable to me but as I get older and I like to think, wiser, who cares! It’s the weekend after all! This has become a wonderful way for me have the best of both worlds, a fine balance between hard work and the ultimate break, a nap! Does this still count as an entire day of work you ask? Yes, I think it does because think about it, other then landscapers and lawn maintenance companies who get paid to work out there all day, most of us only garden for a few hours, so when I work all morning and most of the afternoon, it rates as a full day to me.
Okay, I promise to start adding some gardening hints, pest control facts and all the reasons you might actually want to read this blog. Not today. I am going to do the work I love and will get to those details later. I think I’ll feel more like my life is under control!
Oh, and for those of you who are looking for grammatical perfection, it’s not gonna happen here. I know my writing leaves a lot to be desired with all my syntax errors and misplaced punctuation marks. I speak from the heart and if you like what I have to say rather than how I spell, great. I’m sure I’ll improve with practice so bear with me, if not, go out and pull some weeds and hopefully you’ll feel like you have more control. Right now, I’m out the door!
Happy gardening!
