Thoughts while gardening...

So this year I planted my first real garden ever. Why? Because the home I'm renting has planter boxes in the back yard. It really is that simple. One of them is filled with the best strawberry plants I have seen, which produce the sweetest strawberries ever! They are so popular among the wildlife, that I had to build a creative little lid (out of chicken wire) so the birds don't eat them all. Since the chicken wire lid is a nuisance to remove, I have let that box go for the last couple of weeks, making much of my initial weeding and prepping efforts appear to have been in vain. Last night, the crab-grass and vines which had been under control were starting to grow taller than the strawberry plants, and I could no longer peek through the chicken wire and see the ripe strawberries to be picked. Clearly it was time to weed!

As I was weeding and picking strawberries, I realized that the process was a metaphor for my life. The other two boxes are beautiful and growing like crazy. I water all three every day, and often pick lettuce and peas out of the other two boxes without difficulty. Those are also easiest to weed, and have more purposeful plants than weeds growing in them because I am good at tending to them...they are not particularly difficult to get to. The strawberries, however, are in a larger box so the task appears more daunting, and are covered with the chicken wire, making them harder to get to. I usually scratch myself at least once while trying to get in. Consequently, I don't keep up on the weeding as much, and I don't always pick the fruit when it is in its prime. While I still water it, and pretend I have a great garden, that part is often forgotten when I just don't feel like I have the time or energy to deal with it.

I find the same difficulties in dealing with certain problems in my life. Tending to the easier areas in life gets done more frequently and those areas often look fantastic! However, some things just seem painful to deal with. I don't feel like I have the time or energy, the task seems more daunting, and sometimes I get hurt getting to it. It is easier to ignore those areas, or let them go and think no one will ever notice. But when looking at the overall picture, it is worth taking the time to occasionally clean those areas out, or make peace, so the overall product can be thoroughly enjoyed. Sometimes without tending those areas, we miss the sweetest fruit!

Yes, I'm still alive!

Ok reading back over this made me laugh at so many of the things that were happening a few years ago! While much of my life has changed, some things are still the same, and I love it! I have been thinking of blogging again, but when I saw that Vlad was working on his again, I knew I had to start too! So while I don't have much to say this morning, I will be watching for the fun stories to post again soon!