Best laid plans….

I had my day all planned.  I should have stuck to it.  My plan was to concentrate on getting the inside of the house all clean and tidy.  That was enough.  I could handle that. 

Well today, as I stood by the kitchen window and contemplated which room I should begin with, I looked out into the garden.  I use that term loosely.  It’s not a garden.  It’s grass with a few unidentifiable, but fast-growing  weeds.   Usually, when I contemplate this area, I just look away.  But not today.  Today, I was held, transfixed, unable to escape the lure of the “garden”.  As I looked at the weeds lovingly encircling the flowers, I thought “That’s it.  I can’t take it anymore.  I’ve got to get rid of it.”

Resolutely I walked toward the back door.  I could feel a strong force trying to hold me back.  But my power over it was too strong.  There was no turning back.  I picked up the yard broom and started sweeping the leaves off the walkway and back into the garden.  With each push of the broom, my determination became stronger.  I was going to make this beautiful!  This was my calling!  This was what had to be done!

The giant size secateurs were nearby.  (That was lucky, wasn’t it?)  I reached for them.  I began cutting.  Something took over me.  I cut here and I slashed there.  I was gonna’ give this backyard the biggest haircut it had ever had!  In between the cutting, I pulled weeds up.  They were everywhere but they were no match for me!  Cut, slash, pull!  Cut, slash, pull!  Cut, slash, pull!  Now my back is starting to hurt.  But I won’t stop.  This garden needs a hero and I’m it!

I looked around for the wheelbarrow.  Damn!  It wasn’t conveniently nearby.  It was in the woodshed.  I ran; I powered; I arrived; I went to grab it; I stopped.

“Oh my God, what if there are spiders in it?”

My determination didn’t extend to spiders.  All my good intentions can be squashed mercilessly if there are spiders involved.  What to do?

I carefully took hold of the handles.  I slowly pulled them towards me, peering cautiously into the main part of the wheelbarrow.  Nothing.  No spiders there.  No spiders underneath, about to crawl up and send me into a catatonic coma for the next two weeks.  Thank God.

“How would you like a wheelbarrow ride, Alice?” I asked.

“Yay!” she yelled.

“I hope I don’t fall” she said.

“I won’t let you fall sweetheart” I said.  Of course, had there been a spider between her and me, I would’ve dumped the whole thing with her in it, and ran away faster than Cathy Freeman.

We made it back to garden central.  I took her out and loaded all the weeds and cuttings into the wheelbarrow.  We took it down to the area where we burn all of our garden scraps.  Alice walked behind me the whole way, hanging on to one of the handles and causing me to swerve several times and lose my balance.  It didn’t matter.  I wasn’t stopping.  This pile was headed for death row.

As we arrived, I pushed the wheelbarrow, and everything plopped out into a highly decorative pile. 

“Can I have a ride again please Mummy?”

“Of course honey.”

I picked her up and we raced back up the hill.  Yes I did have to stop at the top and restart my heart, but on we continued.

We’d done well.  For one day.  More tomorrow….