Something About Weeds

            No, not weed. Weeds. We’re in a drought here in California. It’s bad. The rain we had in December, combined with summer-like weather (78 degrees and sunny) in January in Northern California have made the weeds in my garden grow like crazy. (I might also mention that this unseasonably warm weather has my camellias in full bloom, daffodils sprouting everywhere, and the star jasmine laden with buds and ready to make a show.) Getting back to weeds though . . . day after day, for the past couple of months, I have watched them inch up, little by little. It is as if the little suckers have been taunting me, and, yes, I have put off the inevitable.

            This past weekend, however, for two days, I took charge. The job isn’t quite done yet, but that’s all right. I almost look forward to getting out there again. And why? Plain and simple, I like pulling weeds. It puts me in a meditative state, like running used to do. A certain resistance at first is followed by determination and commitment (yanking that first weed; planting that first step) and then it’s game on. There is a certain satisfaction in knowing that a goal can be set and a destination reached. And when all is finished, ah, it just feels good. On the outside the task appears quite simplistic, I suppose, but I like to take it to a deeper level. While I’m weeding, as it was when I use to run every day, I don’t hold a thought. Instead, my mind becomes a kaleidoscope of memories, notions, faces, plans, hopes, and dreams. And while all are important, in the process of my work, or my run, all, paradoxically, lose importance. I am simply content in being where I am at that very moment. It becomes a “Be Here Now” experience.

            So, yes, I like pulling weeds. It is similar to cleaning out my glove compartment or cleaning up the clutter on my desk. It’s straightening the shoes in my closet, or tossing out clothes I haven’t worn in years. It’s cleaning the windows. When it’s all over, I can see more clearly. I have space to move about. I have a better sense of where things are, myself included. I am satisfied, and who can argue with that state of being?