I was out trimming my hedges the other day & mused over the fact that it didn’t seem very long ago that I was shoveling snow off those same bushes. For weeks now we’ve been mowing our lawns. They didn’t need mowed for five months but suddenly they demand our attention. We were busy enough before they woke up yet somehow we have found the time to do the landscaping.
My wife and I live in a 55+ neighborhood where the houses are meant to be low maintenance. I’ve noticed that most, if not all, of the residents have put in elaborate gardens. It’s not unusual to see a senior citizen outside trimming, weeding, planting, pulling, watering, etc. I’ve said to more than one as I’ve strolled past, “Isn’t it fascinating how we all buy low maintenance homes so we don’t have to do so much work on them, then we go outside & plant gardens we have to spend all summer tending?” Invariably they stop and think about what I’ve said for a moment then laugh & say something like, “Yeah, we’re a funny lot; aren’t we?”
Most of these people have retired because they were tired of working only to discover that what they like most to do for leisure is to work. So whether its shoveling snow, trimming hedges, mowing the lawn, driving a truck, pouring cement or filing a brief, maybe we should just be thankful for the strength to do whatever it is that needs done at the moment.