Weed Walk Therapy-Holy Satisfaction!

"I come to the [walkway] alone,
While the dew is still on the roses..."

After the breezes of Springtime breathe out warm rains. While the earth is still wet from that last thunderstorm or the new morning's dew. And certainly before the sun turns its thermostat to 'Broil'. That's the time.  Time for one of the many springtime traditions I perform annually. Time for the one tradition that I own.

But this one is especially beneficial to mind, soul and body...or to be less ethereal about it...my get'er done mentality, Tigger personality and winter-stiff joints.

There are other traditions, but all of them include Senior Chief, which is great as some of those projects would never get done without him. But this one is mine. He hates this kind of work. It is tedious and boring to him. But once I begin, I enjoy it...and in the end, I am immensely satisfied.

It is the job of de-grassing the brick pathway. This is the only pathway in our yard of this sort.  The bricks are old and each one has three holes. And therein lies my task. Tiny seeds that slept through winter now take root in the dirt beneath those holes, and grasses of all sorts begin to grow. From that statement alone, it is obvious that we don't use weed/grass killer. It is also obvious that we took the easy road in creating our pathway by not layering beneath with sand or other material to inhibit grass growth. There are times I think I wish we had, but mostly, I'm okay with the current state of affairs. It's not forever because one day, we'll most likely have to take it all up and re-lay it, but for now, I love the quaint and cottagey look of it. And I like what my annual task does for me and ultimately, our yard.

To further expose our lack of formality around 'Hailey Homestead', and explain the 'why' of what I do, it is important to reveal that we have a dog. We have had dogs for years. They all love us so very much that when we let them out to do their business, they will go off to the side for the heavy business, but for the inferior act of peeing, they squat only about ten feet from the base of our deck. Those in the know, know that this makes for yellow grass and even bald spots. The one thing we do once a year, is scatter a bit of lime over those areas, then water the spots as if we'd planted seed on days when have no grandchildren. The urine acidity is in that way neutralized and roots that have survived then come to life.

But there have been areas of baldness that needed new grass altogether.

Without further adieu, what I do is simply: Weed the Walk

The process is simple, as long as the ground is wet. Grab the grass at the base and pull, tug, wiggle and wrench the grass from each hole.

Oh yes. I do.

Free worms to help my garden...or lawn...grow!

And I save these natural grass plugs to plant in the bald spots, as well as any spots our chickens have over-scratched. I cover the spots with old lattice-work, bits of chicken wire, etc, until they're well-established. It's not pretty-yet, but it keeps all pets at bay. For this reason, I defer my delight in 'pretty' until a bit later. There is an added bonus in the fact that worms have made their homes within the roots. These, I leave alone or remove for the compost and garden.

Of course I realize I could buy grass seed or turf, but this is my contribution to the rebuilding and restoring efforts of spring. I get this 'karma, one-ness' thing going, (I say this with a giggle). But honestly, I do get the feeling that I'm actually working with God in cultivating a sort of rebirth...a healing and refreshment...of His creation. The words of of an old hymn come effortlessly to mind:
"I come to the garden alone, while the dew is still on the roses...and He walks with me and He talks with me, and He tells me I am His own. And the joy we share as we tarry there, none other has ever known."

In truth, I am well aware that in performing this small hour or two of work, I am the one getting spiritually, as well as physically,  grounded, healed and refreshed.



Almost done!  Note the pot in the background is
'packed to the gills' with grass plugs. If I don't use them
right away, I'll keep them damp by sprinkling with water
for a few days.

I know I could change it all. Take up the old bricks, put in hole-less ones. Once done, it would be a lot less work...

...and a whole lot less holy satisfaction.


The Contemplating Garden

This is a piece of our Contemplating Garden. It is, in fact, an inherited pond. It came with the house. It is cement and when we first saw it, our immediate response was to plan a jackhammering event as soon as possible.  Sometimes, I still feel that way-sort of.  Maybe not the jackhammering part, but in a get-rid-of-the-work sort of way. Especially in the early spring months, when it seems there is an endless amount of debris from old leaves, grass and even flowers. All of which must be cleaned out with a rake. A shovel. A siphoning tube. 

The cleaning takes weeks because even after the debris is gone, there is the fresh algae bloom and once that's cared for, there is the brown water. We have 'good bacteria' tablets that are tossed into the water, but we must be patient for them to do their work. There is a quick route to clarity of water, but this is a temporary fix...good for parties that occur before the tablets work their 'magic', but otherwise, pretty much useless.

The water of the pond drops from a top pool into two lower pools before cascading via a homemade waterfall into the main body of the pond. We have thought to turn this system into something smaller and simpler. The contemplation was to fill in the lower pond with cement, perhaps embedding mosaic tile into the new floor, and then make the little pools recycle water through themselves so we could still have the sound and sight of water.

If it weren't for my love our pond fish, I think we would have done this -and the possibility remains that we yet will-sometime far into the future when our backs can not longer handle the strain of pond cleaning.

 But today, I am glad we took the 'stay with it' option. For seven years, we have planted, raked, sown seed, painted over the old aquamarine blue (ugh!) a former owner used, tended fish, de-mosquitoed, and yes, cleaned this pond. We have watched the 'wild' vines begin to grow up its blob-like form, allowing them to remain just to see if we like the final product.

We did. They first made it look like a verdant hill of life, then blessed us with small white flowers in the early fall...We call it Fall Jasmine because it is prolific and has a glorious smell like Jasmine. (If it is not Jasmine, I have decided that it should be.)

Jim's addition of a bridge allowed us, and all visitors, to dangle toes in cool summer water, giggling as we wait for fish and tadpoles to kiss our toes. It also gave a place for contemplating and praying...for weeping and thinking, deciding and finding peace.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      As the glory of the pond garden has evolved over the years, our love of things growing has expanded into the rest of our yard. More on that another time, but the point is, our not giving in to the easier way...the road more travelled...has ended by giving us an ever-growing blessing of earthly paradise.

I'm so glad we didn't give up.

    ...Can I get an "Amen" ?