About now, mothers of school age children are ready to throw in the towel. Driving more, juggling amorphous schedules, and generally being run ragged, the flexibility of the whole season spawned our yearly neighborhood coffee klatsch on school’s opening day. We adults would plop down with audible sighs, and give thanks for the structure that lay ahead.
I might have had a fantasy, or was it a nightmare, that once the kids grew up I would have nothing to do. Boredom at home base, however, is an unlikely scenario. Yes, the children are older, but so is the house. There are leaks to repair, whole bathrooms to resurrect, and don’t get me started on the yard.
Last year’s drought kept me busy watering trees, shrubs and perennials to stave off disaster. The lawn, what there is of it, just fried. Much has come back this year, but with the interior household in a construction uproar, my attention has been diverted away from the outdoor life and gardening I love.
After endless errands to fetch remodeling items plus appointments to make design decisions, I have found myself meandering blindly around the do-it-yourself store aisles, marveling at the breadth of chemical choices at my disposal should I really want to wage a war on weeds.
If I had neither an environmental conscience nor a dog who fi nds eating grass quite appealing, I might entertain draconian chemical measures such as these. Truthfully, I would rather spend time potting flowers.
I feel a bit guilty that I have not contributed my fair share to the garden center coffers this summer. The best I could do this season was to move some of my indoor plants outdoors, christen this a microclimate, put my feet up on the patio, and admire the profusion of established hydrangea blooms surrounding me.
Planted for the long haul, perennial gardens keep up their good work, even if their caretaker, occasionally, cannot.
