Bungle in the Jungle

Yesterday I was wondering what most people do on the long weekend -- head out of town for vacation? party with friends and family on patios and decks? big house projects? As it turned out, I did not much of anything. But it wasn't even planned. If I had made a real plan to just "do nothing" and relax, I could have anticipated it, let go of the actual plans I had and expectations for getting stuff done. And just let loose, slept in, stocked up on snacks and movies, or something along those lines. It's just that the weather was so crappy for most of it.

So we did the usual shopping chores, half-heartedly attempted catching up on some work tasks, cancelled the huge basement organization project due to bad timing, grilled dinner once but had to rush back in between meat turnings because it was so cold, and then eat inside with the heat on, and made lists of other projects we'd like to accomplish if there is ever another weekend free that actually has nice weather -- just a lot of meh.

And then Monday it finally cleared up enough to head outside. The single one thing I wanted to accomplish this weekend was the carving out of the jungle. We have an empty lot next door. And it's a bigger jungle than I've ever seen it -- the blackberries, ivy and creeping morning glory vine are out of control. And they not only cross the line into my flower beds daily, they are threatening to devour my fence and trees too. So I had purchased new clippers and hackers and gloves, donned the knee-high rubber boots and long sleeves, and headed over to rescue the fence. I chopped a little path along the whole length. That should last about five minutes. And we sawed and nipped and wrestled the tree-trunk size ivy off the fence completely. It looks great. Again, it should last about five minutes. It's so hopeless. The weeds always win. Why isn't the rest of the garden as strong and healthy as the stupid stuff I want gone?

After about half a day, we were covered in dirt, bugs, and sweat, exhausted to the point of dizziness, and so stiff and sore we coudn't walk -- well we could shuffle, hunched over like grannies. Oh, the grunting and swearing. But the yard looks really great. The birds and squirrels can enjoy it all week, now that it's finally sunny and nice, while we are back at work today. Anyway, at least something substantial was accomplished. What did you do?