The Green Old Deal

I’m getting the hang of video chats. Whereas initially I fumbled with my cell phone and wondered why a 5-minute talk drained the heck out of my battery, now I position my tablet, where I want to have the call, and boom, the magic happens.

Had the pandemic not happened, I don’t think I would have cared about the video call. Oh, I played with it a bit when it first became a thing but always preferred to do the audio. With a society less inclined to meet up, it’s nice to see people with these calls. Today I video called a friend from Las Vegas and a friend from New Jersey, and it was great to see them both in the safety of their shelter. Both of them friends who have also made video calling a part of their regular communication.

The weather outside was nice. It was comfortable to chat on the deck. I sat in front of vines that seemed to want to strangle my words, but they behaved, and aside from the buzzing of a hummingbird, it couldn’t have been a more peaceful locale. Both conversations felt part therapeutic as the discussions touched on the pandemic and what we were doing or not doing.

Garry took off with his niece to have a distanced hike. I executed a military-style attack on the weeds in the back. Those greens never saw it coming. My forces recaptured the path leading to the backbench at the end of the garden. The overgrowth had taken it from us, and I was determined to get it back, “by hook or by crook,” which is what one of my old catholic school nuns used to say. I laid the enemy to waste. Grabbed those suckers low in their roots and pulled. I let their lifelessness hang on the paved steps for 15 minutes while I hydrated, then it was green bin time.

The battle is never without scars. Because of all the low stretching during the plucking, I get entirely wiped. But it also feels good, a mission accomplished and indeed another chapter in the 100-year war. 

Back in the day, the sheer inactivity led to that backbench area’s unwanted growth. You could not even see the bench. It was one of the first sections I tackled after moving in. The upkeep is a two-person job, and we’ve maintained some consistency with its growth.