Tend to the weeds

I spent the last 3 days in my yard. This is the first blooming flower we have. 

Over the past 17 years of living here we had let a lot of things go. We had overgrown trees, a wild untended flower bed, and piles of old branches, rocks and more behind our shed and side yard.

Since summer vacation is out, my husband and I took on the project of cleaning up our yard. So we dug our hands into the earth and began.

So much more has happened than just a garden improvement. One of our neighbours spent 10 hours helping my husband plant cedar trees. 10 hours!!!!! He also fixed our wheelbarrow - and we never asked him to. Another neighbour lent us his chainsaw. Many neighbours stopped by during their walks and chatted with us, encouraging us along. We made connections and shared laughs.

My kids put in hard work too, carrying heavy branches and rocks and earning some cash for themselves. They learned about work ethic and how not every job is glamorous but that doesn’t make them invaluable or unnecessary. My husband and I spent quality time together, side by side, planning and strategizing to make these changes happened.

I saw my husband through new eyes. So much of his time is spent in a dress shirt, plugging away hours for his job (which he loves and he’s good at), and I appreciate that, I do. This past weekend, I saw his physical strength and precision and his never quit attitude to make our collective space beautiful and what I had envisioned. My heart fluttered several times seeing him working so hard. 

If the world was as usual right now, we would have been grinding away at our jobs, barely noticing our home, and when the weekend arrived we would be so mentally exhausted any yard work would be out of the question. We would be counting the days for our summer vacation, check out for 3 weeks, and then return and immediately get lost in a life of work again. 

2020 has been a tough year, one filled with chaos, heartache, loss, and pain. To me, it’s a year of exposure. The pandemic exposed the world’s neglected parts, seniors, the environment, Black individuals and all people of colour, healthcare systems, economic disparity, work-life imbalance and more. We have been living within this chaos for years (and decades) but did nothing to clean it up. Just like with my yard, it became normal and we no longer saw the overgrowth or bothered with the weeds slowing taking over.

Tomorrow, we said. We’ll take care of it tomorrow. 

I cannot control much right now, but starting with my own environment is something. Looking at the big picture and noticing the sweeping change necessary to create a new birth, step by step was empowering. People came to help. People cheered us on. Generations contributed and worked hard towards change. My marriage thrived. 

Am I suggesting cleaning up your yard changes the world? Of course not. 

However, you know the saying, “You can’t love another until you love yourself?”

Well, maybe if all we can do right now is clean up our yard, nurture the environment that surrounds our home, care about the people who live next door, help others who need it, accept help when offered, cheer on people if we can’t physically lend a hand, bring in generations to do work too, focus on the end goal and put in the sweat and elbow grease to make it happen, one small step at at time, it’s a start.

Flowers will bloom.