A reprieve from weeds

I have this kind of crazy job that keeps me very busy from spring to fall.  I have to tell other people to cut their grass, trim their bushes, and take care of their dead and dangerous trees.  It is crazy to me because I love to garden on a scale much more than mowing the lawn and trimming the hedges.  I spend A LOT of hours going through properties that would make you shudder.  It is obvious how quickly a city would disappear in the foliage if humans disappeared from the planet.  Some homes are consumed in just a few short years before falling to the backhoe.

Each year I pull hundreds of unwanted seedlings from my yard and my adopted footage of neglected public lands.  I go through on hands and knees yanking out buck thorn, box elder, maples, garlic mustard, thistles, burdock....you get the picture.  If I didn't do it in short order, my yard and the lilac border would be over-run with these rogue plants put there by wind and rain.  I just keep the wild grapevine (which has never had grapes) in check as there are a couple of ethnic populations that harvest the leaves for grape-leaf wrapped meals.  Talk about making lemonade out of lemons.  I take this task on as a stewardship to the land that I share with thousands of others.  It gives us all something worth having.

 I have said it before and I will say it again:  Attitude is everything.  If you approach a task as distasteful, overwhelming, or beneath you it will become just that.  If you approach a task as a worthy endeavor which is not a waste of your time, efforts, or intellect, it can become a more pleasant activity.  The choice is yours.

There are bright spots in my crazy job.  I meet people who really want to learn to garden.  I meet people who have a real interest in making the community a better place to live.  I get to see a slice of life that most people pass by or don't get anywhere near it.  Somethings can really make me smile.  A flower may poke up through a tangle of thistle.  A chicken may be perch on a picnic table.  Chihuahuas may be running the streets.  It can take you by surprise what beauty is hidden in unexpected places.  I get to travel among historic neighborhoods that are seeing new life breathed into them.  I pass under the shadow of some beautiful churches and even one basilica.   Street venders offer up a smile when I pause to get a frozen treat from their push cart.  Sometimes, there are children that benefit from a couple spare dollars in my pocket on a hot day.  The smile I get in return is payment enough.

On bad days I have to refocus on the little things that make my job interesting.  I have to think about the people that have learned a little bit about what are weeds and how to start a garden.  Sometimes these days seems too far apart to matter.  I just have to remember to stop and put it all into perspective.