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aldersprigSaturday morning, before the weather broke, my husband and I spent probably a half-hour cleaning out our culvert, digging wet leaves and sticks out of the ditch and hauling them to the hedgerow.
It’s achey work, bending-over, digging, lifting, wet work, and at least the weather was still in the fifties. It was necessary work, because in a heavy rain, our culvert fills all the way to the top, and, clogged as it was, it might have overflowed in unfortunate ways. It’s supposed to carry rain away, not keep it in our yard, after all.
There was the nice feeling of having done something physical that was productive was nice, that warm ache. But on the other hand…
So, I hate raking. I really, really hate raking. It goes back to being a child, and I am ridiculous about any number of chores that I had to do as a kid/teenager — but raking really ranks up there.
And we didn’t rake this fall.
And the leaves all blew, like they will, into the culvert.
You see where I’m going?
It reminded me of learning, maybe seven years ago, exactly how bad it could be when Iavoided conflict by not talking about problems or by trying to give in to everyone at once (Answer: everyone ends up mad at you and you end up with even more conflict than you’d originally been trying to avoid).
It’s one of those lessons I have to keep learning over and over again: the more you put something off, the more work it is.
Hopefully, I remember this in fall, when it’s time to rake again. Or the next time something threatens to pile up in my metaphorical culverts.
...kind of like the dishes in the sink…
It’s achey work, bending-over, digging, lifting, wet work, and at least the weather was still in the fifties. It was necessary work, because in a heavy rain, our culvert fills all the way to the top, and, clogged as it was, it might have overflowed in unfortunate ways. It’s supposed to carry rain away, not keep it in our yard, after all.
There was the nice feeling of having done something physical that was productive was nice, that warm ache. But on the other hand…
So, I hate raking. I really, really hate raking. It goes back to being a child, and I am ridiculous about any number of chores that I had to do as a kid/teenager — but raking really ranks up there.
And we didn’t rake this fall.
And the leaves all blew, like they will, into the culvert.
You see where I’m going?
It reminded me of learning, maybe seven years ago, exactly how bad it could be when Iavoided conflict by not talking about problems or by trying to give in to everyone at once (Answer: everyone ends up mad at you and you end up with even more conflict than you’d originally been trying to avoid).
It’s one of those lessons I have to keep learning over and over again: the more you put something off, the more work it is.
Hopefully, I remember this in fall, when it’s time to rake again. Or the next time something threatens to pile up in my metaphorical culverts.
...kind of like the dishes in the sink…
no subject
Date: 2017-02-28 05:55 am (UTC)It feels pretty good to be getting various cleaning necessities done. Also, knowing that I'll do a little more tomorrow helps me avoid guilting myself over what's not getting done today.
no subject
Date: 2017-02-28 11:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-03-01 11:50 pm (UTC)