It's a Jungle Out There

My son has taken over lawn mowing duties this summer and I have stopped looking at our yard in its entirety. My line of vision has come to see only the front yard as I drive into the garage, and the back yard as I walk from the garage to the back door. Everything else is a blur.

In order to lessen the distractions while taking a personal phone call, I have started taking the phone outside. I will carry a chair wherever the shade may be and it feels like I'm transported to another world when I am sitting in the comfort of our own back yard.

Except ... while looking at the back yard from a different angle, I was astounded at the weeds that sprouted since I last looked around the corner of our house.

Thistles had taken over and had deeply rooted themselves in the rocks. Other weeds had grown just as tall but were easier to pull. Little weeds were multiplying and this formerly weedless space had gone to seed and flourished while my back was turned.

The next time I sat outside, I noticed the weeds growing along the chain link fence area. Again, it was the thistles that ruled the area with the odd tree seed settling in as well. I took this time to pick all the weeds I could spot in the yard. Considering I had just weeded the back yard a few weeks ago, I was a little disillusioned how fast the weeds went forth and multiplied.

The next day, I thought I'd better peek at the back alley to see what had transpired back there since its last weed-free-inspection several months ago. Oh. My. Gosh. It was overgrown with every type of weed in the neighborhood.

I pulled weeds for well over an hour. I thought of my daycaring days when I simply puttered in the yard while the kids played. Pulling weeds as I spotted them on a regular basis resulted in a yard that looked like someone who cared lived here. 

Working in my office inside the house, I rarely step outside during my regularly scheduled work week. I don't putter with a thing because I cannot work and putter at the same time. Everything that must be done still gets done. But the little things are piling up.

As it is with the weeds in the back yard, so it is within the cozy little "storage places" within our home. My little piles are growing and multiplying while my back is turned. 

I need to figure out how to work from home more effectively. Work spills into my weekends. When I'm not working, I'm not fully immersed in anything productive in or around our home. I play mindless games on the computer or stare at the TV set until my brain is numb enough to sleep.

Something's gotta change. Nature is telling me to wake up and pull the weeds before we run out of summer weather. It's a jungle out there.