A Cheap Thrill
My husband, Robert, and I recently bought a house and moved from the second largest city in Sweden to a town so small that most Swedes haven't even heard of it. We're out in the country and we couldn't be happier. We've discovered, though, that there are lots of new chores and responsibilities that come with owning a house, a major one being lawn maintenance. Robert gleefully took on the task of mowing the grass. I think pushing a motor-driven tool around makes him feel more manly.
For some strange reason I decided to tackle the weeding. Why I chose that for myself I have no clue. Sometimes I think it was a momentary lack of sanity that led me to believe it was a good idea. But, surprisingly, it's turned out to be something that I really enjoy. When I'm at work on sunny days I find myself itching to get home so I can pick more weeds. Unbelievable!
The work is quiet and earthy and I feel a great sense of accomplishment when I look over the flower beds and see how nice they look. I've discovered which kinds of weeds come up easily and which I need to dig down a bit to get the root out. I know which kinds send off runners and I get a huge thrill when the main root of one of those comes up.
Gloves are essential to weed-picking. Without them you end up with weird slimy substances on your hands and you never know when your skin will come into contact with disgusting alien bugs. When I first started I picked up a pair of cheapo gloves from the grocery store. They worked okay, but they were always slipping down so that my fingers ended up in the palm area of the glove. I had seen some garden gloves called "happy hands" and they looked really nice, but they were pretty expensive and I refused to pay so much for a dumb pair of gloves. After struggling and cursing at my cheapo gloves awhile longer, though, I gladly plunked down the money so I, too, could have happy hands. And wow, what a difference. No root has escaped my grasp since.
When I'm out in the garden, my dogs are nearby happily chewing on a rock or some such thing and I get to drift off into my thoughts. Weeding doesn't take much concentration, only time and patience. It's nice to hear the birds tweet and the wind rustle the trees and just let my mind wander. I feel very relaxed and satisfied afterward. The best part is that, besides the cost of gloves, it's free. Plus the weeds always come back so I never run out of something to do!