A man I see walking from time to time, passed by my yard today. He laughed and called out “I bet you thought that would be better than having to cut the grass. I was weeding the perennials. I said actually no it isn’t that bad. He told me that he doesn’t plant it if he can’t cut it. I guess that he and I are on completely different planes of existance. You see I love that I have bees and butterflies in my garden. I love that I am out weeding and caring for my yard. I love the labor of it, I love the closeness I have to the earth with it. I love that I am not mowing every week. I love not using a gas mower. I do have a gas weedwhacker, which I think I use a gallon of gas and a small can of oil about every 2 1/2 years. When I bought my manual push mower, the man at the hardware store told me that I was going to get a good workout using it, but actually I just push and walk. Sure I have to pick up sticks, which I save for kindling, before I mow. But when I am done mowing I smell like grass and sweat and my ears aren’t ringing. And I know I have done one days worth of good turn for the earth. So to the man who thinks I am crazy to weed my yard a couple times a month instead of mowing it…oh do you know what you are missing?
