Garden Journal (Sort Of): I Really Shouldn't Be "Shoulding on Myself!"
It's Wednesday afternoon, here in the Pacific Northwest.
It's another cloudy day, and it's windy, and even though it is about 3:30, the temperature has still only made it to the low 50's (about 11C).
This is NOT what it looks like, today!
I'm sitting by the window in my home office, looking out at the ever-growing lawn and thinking to myself that I "should" go out there and mow the grass... but I am feeling very little inclination to do so.
My head feels kind of thick and "cotton-woolery" and the culprit is most likely related to the small yellow puff of pollen I just observed the breeze blow from a nearby spruce tree. The lateness of our spring this year has resulted in everything "blooming all at once," now that the freezes have finally passed.
There's something slightly ironic about the fact that by the time you actually have the time and inclination to pursue a lot of gardening, you have often reached a stage of life where you no longer have the boundless energy needed to keep up with it all.
Some of last year's bounty...
Earlier today I was remembering my cousin (back in Denmark) who finally hired a yard man to help with things like mowing the lawn, trimming hedges and cutting trees and bushes... about when he reached my age, now. He wanted to be able to focus mostly on his vegetable garden, but he only had so much "effort" to spread around.
I'm going to take a fairly hard pass on the mowing for today, and instead focus on more indoor tasks.
Perhaps that is one of the things we do, when we round 60 years of age: come to terms with the fact that we are not 29 anymore... and we shouldn't "should on ourselves" over not being able to keep up with it all... even though that very statement basically constitutes "shoulding!"
I truth, I have always loved gardening... but not so much the more "trivial drudgery" aspects like lawn mowing and tree maintenance.
Strawberry blossom
I've long been a subscriber to — and fan of — the "Grow, Don't Mow" initiatives various cities and states promote, which recommends growing something pretty and/or edible, rather than having useless expanses of lawns that need constant care and basically serve little purpose other than being a place where kids play football. I remember how much my own father constantly was tending to our 3/4-acre expanse of lawn... fertilizing, mowing, spraying weeds, aereating, top dressing. Always — even as a kid — struck me as more effort than it was worth.
And so — on this somewhat cold and bluster day — I look out at our lawn with no particular fondness, and don't really feel like I "should" ANYthing with it... until I feel like doing so!
Meanwhile, the new prayer flags to hang around our vegetable garden have arrived... and putting those up sounds far more appealing!
How about YOU? Do you "should on yourself?" Do you usually act on it, or ignore those inner voices? Comments, feedback and other interaction is invited and welcomed! Because — after all — SOCIAL content is about interacting, right? Leave a comment — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!
Greetings bloggers and social content creators! This article was created via PeakD, a blogging application that's part of the Hive Social Content Experience. If you're a blogger, writer, poet, artist, vlogger, musician or other creative content wizard, come join us! Hive is a little "different" because it's not run by a "company;" it operates via the consensus of its users and your content can't be banned, censored, taken down or demonetized. And that COUNTS for something, in these uncertain times! So if you're ready for the next generation of social content where YOU retain ownership and control, come by and learn about Hive and make an account!
(As usual, all text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is original content, created expressly and uniquely for this platform — NOT cross posted anywhere else!)
Created at 20220511 16:14 PDT
0573/1819
Too bad we aren't neighbours because I love cutting the grass, and would gladly cut it for you.
I also love gardening but I only like doing it in a nice warm weather.
I say, you do it whenever you feel like doing it so that you can actually enjoy doing it.
I have noticed the grass is also starting to show signs of fresh seed heads. I was once told what we blame on the visible evergreen pollen may actually be a consequence of the American lawn fetish and grass pollen. I can't confirm it, but it seems plausible. We take the grass for granted. Maybe it wants revenge for our horticultural hubris.
I decades ago gave up on shoulds and focus more "cans". I do what I can, then stop.