Susskins Central Dispatch

Let’s go with the word Sublime.

The past three days have been spent mostly outdoors. No Playstation, no Warcraft. Precious little television. (Okay, maybe a movie or two.) There’s nothing in the house as compelling as what’s outside the house.

Tonight I realized a few things.

1. This year I became a Process Gardener. All my previous gardening efforts have been dedicated to Product, not Process. I wanted flowers, so I planted flowers. I wanted strawberries for Fred, so I planted strawberries. And so on. This evening I realized that I was taking a perverse pleasure in weeding. This is a first. Totally confused me when I realized it. I have never ever enjoyed weeding before. The sudden recognition that I was weeding and enjoying it was like finding that I really enjoy reading up on tax codes.

2. Point 1 happened partially because of a confluence of factors. I’m now a homebody. I bought a pickup last year. I got a new garden cart, which is far superior to the previous cart. I finally found a comfortable hat that keeps the sun off my head and neck. The weather is spectacular this year. The combination of all those small factors added up to a big shift in perception. I’m way more comfortable this year than I’ve been in previous years. That comfort tracks into enjoyable gardening. You wouldn’t think it, but it all comes together and creates an environmental change that’s massively conducive to me doing dumb-ass things like weeding for fun.

3. Fred and I really do live in one of the most beautiful places in the world. As I was sitting in front of the house, the evening light was filtering through the trees. Everything was green and gold. The stately Oaks and beautiful Ash trees were full of leaves and absolutely magnificent. The sky was a rich blue, with little skiffs of cloud laced through it, like pond ripples. Doves and sparrows were zooming by, as were bees. The street in front of our house was being used for walking, biking, skating, running, dog-walking, socializing, and fun. I could smell a neighbor’s charcoal grill, and I’d also catch little whiffs of our Lilac tree, which is just starting to bloom. The Catalpa was covered in big chartreuse leaves and hundreds of flower buds getting ready to bust open. Impact sprinklers were tick-tick-ticking. Boats were going up and down the river.

Fred and I really do have a wonderful life.

This entry was posted on Monday, May 31st, 2010 at 8:10 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.