Something to be said for futility

So, I spent the morning weeding our backyard flower beds.

Remember my previous posts about futile tasks. I just did this a couple of weeks ago. How is it that the flowers take so much effort to grow roots and bloom, yet a dandelion can grow 2 feet tall with no water and have a 6 inch root in less than two weeks.?

I miss my gardener. He kept the flower beds weeded, the bushes trimmed, the grass mowed and the sidewalks edged. The garden was fabulous when someone else tended it.

We had to let the gardener go when I was laid off. I hated to do it, but we had to cut where we could. We also scaled back the cell phone options, quit going out to eat as much and started shopping much more carefully for groceries and necessities. We cut out movies and canceled day care. The trickle-down theory of economics is alive and well in our household.

The theory was that since I wasn't working, I would have time to weed the garden. The mowing Eric would do on the weekends.

Growing season is here, and mowing and weeding are falling behind. Even though I'm home, I don't get much gardening done. Morgan thinks that helping Mommy involves digging huge holes in the flower beds and swiping all the tools. I won't even talk about watering duties. Mud Monster comes to mind every time I think about it.

I'm just not as good as the gardener. Growing things well is a skill, pruning a talent. I don't really know what I'm doing. I'm kinda winging it. When I lived in Kansas and Texas, I couldn't keep anything alive. I even killed a cactus! I'm doing better now, but I think it has more to do with the climate than improved skills.

The pansies and impatience are eeking out a living among the weeds. The Kerry lilies are out of control, the St. Augustine's grass is making a comeback, The roses I got around to pruning are doing well -- the others, not so well. The azaleas are growing well, although they are looking rather spindly. Perhaps we should have pruned them? The orchid tree has finally taken root and has a nice sized trunk, but the branches are all leaning to one side around the rubber tree plant.

The daisies are taking over the back yard. I don't think anything will kill them. The new gardenia plants seem to be doing fairly well. They started blooming this week. That makes me happy. It reminds me that even though I may not be the best gardener, there's beauty in every bit of the hard labor.

Even the dandelions are pretty when plucked by Morgan's little hands and handed to me as a present, with his bright little eyes shining and a grin from ear to ear. All the gardener's skills couldn't replace the beauty of those special moments.