On weeding plants. Our strange winter—mostly warm with lots of early moisture—has left Sophie with a dilemma of how to pass through the barrier to the walkway in our backyard where she goes to do her business. Actually, that particular barrier is the over-grown fall crocuses from which I harvested their saffron last year. Such giving plants, I thought, deserved to not be mowed down.
But when Sophie looks for alternate routes, she discovers weeds, lots of them, especially large wild mustard plants.
I will say one good thing about Daylight Savings Time—and I absolutely hate those bi-yearly clock switches—is that I find time and daylight after supper to go outside to weed. I hope to seed part of the cleared area with a flower mix, which needs to be scattered right now. It’s hurry up and clear the ground time.
On weeding lives. Actually the life needing to be weeded is singular—my own—though my intrusive weeds are multiple. I’m not going to list them, thank you very much. Their nature is to fill in any space where there’s a vacancy. In my case, this means escaping into books and dvds. Anything to not think or feel.
I recommend having a therapist to help work through the mess grief makes of one’s life. I’m very good at shoving feelings deep down; those burials leave a kind of emptiness which therapy helps refill.
Another source of help came when I accepted a challenge to write morning pages for two weeks. Filling both sides of a sheet of paper has served as a kind of meditation, recording a jumble of thoughts.
This week, I sat in a sunny spot scribbling away. It occurred to me that the little nook I was in would be an ideal setting for my drop-leaf desk, which then stood in a dark, chilly corner. In the sun, I might be much more inclined to actually put it to use.
That idea came so alive that I started in immediately. Two sets of shelves have been emptied, scrubbed, and relocated to make room for the also emptied and scrubbed desk. Years of thinking about downsizing turned into action with this little move.The detritus—items I’m not putting back on the shelves or into the desk—remain to be sorted and redistributed.
Inside and outside weeding. Sigh. Well, both labors are a beginning.
How about you? What kind of clearing out have you been putting off?
Kate Harrington 