Sunday, June 1, 2008

Sunburn

I keep thinking I am going to get more done on the weekends. Then the weekend gets here and our gigantic extended family wants to swim cook out, exchange kids, and generally act like families on the weekend. In the meantime, my garden has gotten totally out of control. What did get put in got put in late and what is in and growing well is covered up in weeds. I have such high hopes for my garden every year, but there never seems to be enough time to make it pretty.

This weekend was no different. Friday I think, I will get up early tomorrow and work in the garden until it gets hot. Then I will come back inside eat a great lunch and take a two hour nap. After I wake from my nap, I will wait until it cools off in the evening and go back outside and work again until it is too dark to see. Sunday, I will do the same thing. Then I get this nagging feeling that I am forgetting something. The something is a recruitment meeting for our master gardener group. Crap. I spend Saturday morning talking to a few people who are interested in becoming master gardeners. I really enjoyed this, but I didn't get anything done in my own garden.

When I arrived home a cousin was here visiting. The next thing I know one of my boys is going with him. I still have to plant some hibiscus in another person's garden. Okay, nothing gets done in my garden.

Sunday morning, I get up before dawn and type an agenda. I went back to bed because it was too dark to work outside. At 10:00 the phone wakes me. It is a cousin, "We are on our way over to go swimming. Do you want us to bring the watermelon?" Here we go, pack up everybody and head to the pool. Still thinking, I can get a lot done this evening. At least something done this evening. We come home in the early afternoon. It is too hot to work outside so I will wait until 6:00 or 7:00. Over the next hour, I develop the sunburn of the decade. Nothing takes the energy and motivation out of me like a sunburn.

I will go outside here in a few minutes, but I don't expect to get much done. I hurt and I am tired. I am going to try to get out of my garden what I need out of it. Peace, quiet, calm, nurture, the smell of dirt and herbs. The goal is not to get something done. The goal is just to be there.

Do you know what is really relaxing? Watching a teenage boy mow the lawn for you.

10 comments:

  1. You know what works good for me? Child labor. I only allow them 1 hour each of tv/game time, they have to earn the rest of the time they want to use. I gave them 2 minutes for each rock picked (I'd probably scale back on that though or they earn all of the time they want and finish early). Maybe the monkeys would help you?

    That way, you still get to have fun AND the garden can get it's weeds pulled. Win-win!

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  2. Er, yes, weekends. I always think I'm going to get bazillion things done, then there I am in the greenhouse frantically watering and desperately hauling out container plants onto the deck and/or planting ca. 6:30 Sunday night. Ack!!! But at least I have an excuse: It waits all week, then rains every weekend here. (Grrrr.) Couldn't it rain every night from, say, 1 a.m. to 5 a.m., then let us have clear blue skies all day?

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  3. Hi ofb, what a concept weather to order. Wish it worked that way.

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  4. oh LORD the heat. It is enough lately to send anyone running from the garden.

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  5. Hi James, 95 today and no clouds in sight for shade.

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  6. Debbie .. my god girl .. I got so tired just reading what you have gone through .. and then the sunburn on top of it all .. you need rest and aloe vera and rehydration in a BIG way ! .. you must have gotten a whopper of a headache too. That is not a good thing (as I type from my bed here ? LOL) .. seriously .. dehydration and a sunburn are serious .. get some rest and don't worry about the garden .. it will be there when you get to it (my god I'm good at giving advice that I don't follow ! haha)
    Be good now !
    Joy

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  7. Joy, If only we would follow our own advice. You were right, I did wake up with a monster of a headache. Stayed inside today. Feeling better. Thanks.

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  8. AwWW--you should see my weeds!! They look awesome with a few flowers mixed in.

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