The front garden after weeding

Out in the garden,
Out in the windy, swinging dark,
Under the trees and over the flower-beds,
Over the grass and under the hedge border,
Someone is sweeping, sweeping,
Some old gardener,
Out in the windy, swinging dark,
Someone is secretly putting in order,
Someone is creeping, creeping.

-- Out in the Garden by Katherine Mansfield (1888 – 1923)

It took me two full weeks of hard labor to get my front garden back to the level of acceptability.

I sat on the ground for hours, mostly in early morning, before the sun came out and the humidity got to be intolerable. Aches and pains in various joints, plus the arthritic fingers made the task more difficult.

I had to crawl and creep under the trees to pull out the weeds, a seemingly endless job. I piled up the weeds into several mounds and collected them into 15 recycle bags – so far, from just the front garden -- and drag them out to the sidewalk, before the trash pick-up day.

Gardening is not the light, pleasurable hobby someone might assume; it is serious hard work, requiring a great deal of effort, perseverance and love from the real gardeners.

Gardeners are seen as “control freaks” and I often think we must be masochistic, as we subject ourselves to all the troubles, with sweats and tears.. before we get to sit back, relax, and appreciate all the beauty around us.

Celosia, top, and portulaca, after the weeds were removed.