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  My blog was filled up. I'm too lazy to clean it out. So I started a new one. |
| So many things in the garden take a lot of effort. You have to plant them properly, each one requiring a different depth or different spacing from each other. Then there's the weeds! The deer! The rabbits and groundhogs! The leaf eating bugs! Finally, the bloom. You revel in its beauty and maybe take a photo. You know what's going to happen. Too soon the petals fall off. The leaves wither. The ground is littered with browning partial blooms. All you have left is a mess and a photo. You deadhead petunias, but you also deadhead irises, peonies, and roses. It becomes as time-consuming as weeding. Petunias may come back again this year, but the big plants won't be back until next spring. You have to leave as much of the greenery above ground as possible, so that the roots will get the nutrients they need and reproduce. If you can't be satisfied with a brief moment of beauty, then don't plant. That moment of flowering has to be worth all the effort to you, or you'd be better off with a green shrub instead. Just a reminder. I know I've written about this before. NEVER put a voodoo plant in the ground. It proliferates and is non-destructible. I dug up over 200 last year before I lost count. They went into the trash, because I couldn't risk letting them end up in the compost. I thought I had them all by the end of the summer. So far this year, I have dug up 59, and I see them growing in the yard along with the vines and what's left of the grass. The flower beds are well worked and mulched, so I can dig those up easily if I have to dig at all. But the yard is hard. Unfortunately, they grow underground, so you think because you have the root, you have it all. No, it's already put out new roots with nothing showing yet. It will take me years, if I ever succeed in getting rid of this stuff. It started with one ugly plant. |
| There are three points of view at work in America, according to a Rutgers magazine article. Mind you, I read it summarized by someone else, not the original. This writer claims that all three points of view are needed to balance out each other. It also explains the various reactions to current events. The first view is utilitarian. It upholds the most good for the most people. It is the drive behind democracy and majority rule. It has its pitfalls in that sometimes minority groups get left out. It requires protesting, voting, etc., to adjust the laws to be more inclusive. It does not allow one group's or individual's rights to be lost to another; compromise may be necessary. The second view is commontarian. I didn't know that was a word, but I promise "common" was in it. (It's not the same as communitarian.) This one pushes the idea of the common good or greater good for the most possible people. If change is necessary, then the loss of property or life of a few is necessary and permissible. If the loss or destruction leads to change, a constructive purpose has been accomplished. The third is libertarian. Occasionally, you hear of a libertarian running for office. He holds individual freedom to be of utmost importance. The writer claims that in a true libertarian society, you end up with more homeless, cities become centers of sleaze, and rich people get richer by gambling with other people's money. I guess since you can't regulate people's hearts, the evil can prey upon the weak with ease in this scenario. All three have great ideals, but all three have weaknesses. Knowing this doesn't solve anything or relieve our minds. But it does shed some light on what's happening. |
| I'm trying to form some new personal habits. But they seem so trivial considering what's going on around us. So many of my thoughts or opinions might be controversial, and who needs a confrontation? No matter what you say someone will find fault with it. We live in a time and a culture when many are afraid to express themselves. I am a Christian and believe in living by the Golden Rule. Think how different our world would be if everyone did that. No man would ever slap around a woman just because he could. No one would mistreat children. Blacks wouldn't harass whites, and whites wouldn't intimidate blacks or browns. We could disagree with each other without being afraid for our families or fear of having our vehicles "keyed". We could actually have an opinion out loud without fear of retribution. I admit I'm still scared of a killer disease. I'm not willing to get my hair cut yet. I don't want to dine in a restaurant, but will do pick-up. Fortunately, they're discovering that surface contact is not as important as they first believed, so fewer people are wearing gloves. People are still wearing masks, not so much to keep from breathing in the virus, but to protect others from our sneezes, coughing, and unseen spit when we talk. The vulnerable groups are still vulnerable, and it's tempting when we see the healthy 30 and 40 year-olds going out. So I'm a little afraid for the protesters who are not wearing masks. I grew up in a time of civil disobedience. We protested the Vietnam War and civil rights. I remember discussions in church youth group. Civil disobedience in the form of sit-ins and marches, were acceptable forms of protest as long as you were willing to pay the price. If the police asked you to move, you moved over. If they arrested you, you didn't resist. You crossed your fingers you wouldn't get tear-gassed. Our adult leaders tried to prepare us before we got involved in things. The bottom line was voice your beliefs peacefully. I guess most of us are amazed that after all these years/decades of talking about police brutality that the bullies are still out there being bullies. How can they continue to draw attention to themselves, with cruelty and outrageous behavior when so many have been fired and publicly humiliated over their actions? Haven't they learned anything? I know the actions of the few are not the actions or standard for the majority. I have encountered some helpful and kind officers. But I have encountered some major jerks, including female cops. I haven't mentioned half the things that confound me and depress me. I can't stand to watch the news. And that's getting more biased all the time. You can switch from channel to channel or website to website and see how the same news is reported from different points of view. It's very rare to find a news source without bias. I also know that change can't be legislated; laws don't change people's hearts. |
| My home doesn't look perfect. Neither does the yard, the garage or the shed. But my attitude is so much better. It doesn't have to be perfect, and I don't have to be embarrassed by it. I'm making small improvements. I can forgive myself if I forget to do something or don't give it a 100% on a given day. I'll have another chance. I'm separating myself from some things that only have sentimental value. I plan to go through some boxes in the shed that were my things when I moved in. At this point, if I ever live somewhere else, I will use what is now in the house. I don't need my old things from the past any longer. I didn't know that when I moved in, but I know it now. Goodwill is going to receive a lot of pots and pans next week. One reason, I think, that I have accumulated and held on to so much stuff is a fear of being homeless. Like having a ton of old, out of style clothes, jigsaw puzzles, and cookware is going to make up for no roof over my head. I've always worked, sometimes at two jobs, but despite my education, it's been at the low end of the income scale. Which means I didn't put that much into social security through the years, so I don't get much out. I worked overnight in a homeless shelter once as a volunteer, and it made an indelible impact on me. I have struggled all my life financially, so I guess being homeless is my worse possible scenario. Well, maybe I will be homeless someday, but I can't carry all those belongings with me. Time to get rid of them. I also hold onto things because they were my mother's or some other family member's. But I have no children to pass them to, so I might as well get rid of them. I looked at some mugs from my college today, and realized no one sees them in that room. They have no usefulness. I know I went to that college; I don't need mugs to remind me. They can be donated. For the time being I don't need to save packs of sugar or ketchup, etc., so I can let those go. I'm decluttering a little at a time. It doesn't have to be all overnight. Meanwhile, I have shiny sinks every day. The toilets are sparkly, and at least for a few minutes, germ-free. The floors around the toilets are washed daily. For now, I'm still changing the sheets bi-weekly, instead of every week, but there is a set day. I regularly clean out my purse and wallet (they get cluttered, too). I haven't worked through all 5 zones yet, so I know I'll get another chance to work on a problem area. Baby steps. That's the way to get out of the Chaos and into a peaceful home. I'm taking baby steps. |
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