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Weeding watching wondering

  No music to lubricate the keyboard as I type this blog. Last night Deb and I listened late into the night (mighta been 10 - 10:30!) to a compilation called REBORN TO RUN the 35th anniversary of mustang (Which I could find no information on but here is a good snip from it.) Along with some Eagles and Allman Brothers, we were a couple of giddy kids. It really doesn't matter how old you actually are when you hear music from your 'time', you return to that time. Harsh reality is back then I wouldn't have known how to talk to a hot girl like Deb. Heck - didn't know how to talk to any girl. So the music was great but it's good not to delude yourself. The Buddhist say there are two realities. Reality as you perceive it and reality as it is. Confusing the two and you're liable to pull a muscle or something. 'cides I'm liking living in this moment. I got the girl! 

 Couple of days ago was up before the heat weeding the local Bermuda grass out of a front plant bed. The Bermuda grass is a new one for me with a root system that puts my nemesis Bindweed to shame. Once it gets going the roots weave a mat like Kevlar. Long runners deep and crossing each others. You just know you'll be returning to the spot to weed again despite the effort of the morning. The Zen of weeding allows considerable time to think. I began to consider reality from the weeds perspective. What is the ROI (Return On Investment) a weed must have to grow?

 Imagine you're a weed you've just grown a fine set of leaves. The roots are harvesting water, - sun, CO2, you're spreading into new virgin territory. In business terms you are a literally growing concern. That virgin territory some bark mulch with a few foundation plantings is just what you want. It's throwing off huge profit margins. Now I come along rip, pull, swear and tear up your creation. Oh sure, a few scraps of root got missed but utter destruction. You telling me those scraps of roots ain't gonna be back. Oh there coming back, bring it on baby!  Weed or not it is the nature of life to grow, if it can. If the conditions for weeds exist reality says... Yeah that's what I think about when I'm weeding, ROI.

 If I'm merely using brute force and determination to overcome weeds I will wear myself out. If I use weed blocks they can give me a temporary advantage but have the ability to block worms and things I need for my garden to flourish. I need to get on the right side of ROI. What is my ROI in the garden? You can't eat foundation plantings they are a liability not a producing asset (In the Rich Dad/ Robert Kiyosaki sense of the terms). Edible gardens are a literally producing asset. Even if the ROI is tiny while you build it.

 There is a terrific scene in the movie Maverick where he gets into a game as a known gambler by promising to lose for an hour. What the clip doesn't show is he uses that hour, while losing, to observe the other players. He watches for ways to win once the hour is up. I'm entering this fray with my weeds with the same logic, watch, keep my effort/loses under control as I learn and most importantly ask lots of questions. I caught what I think is a key answer from a neighbor two days ago.

 Steve, conveniently shares his name with a fellow who I would always see while walking with Cooper in Colorado. Oklahoma Steve is also a dedicated walker and one of my first neighbors I met. I often see him and chat while weeding in the morning. No interest in baseball, or politics but when I mentioned the garden he quickly pointed out he owned a something something mower with um-pity ump horsepower. And boy does he! He offered to mow my lawn, I politely demurred.  He shared that it would only take him a moment, with his mower. I again thanked him for the kind offer but not necessary. He looked frustrated and offered that he might not be able to get his machine through the gate to the backyard. Again I thanked him but reiterated not needed. We left the conversation (yeah this was all one conversation!) and as he continued on his walk he added "I'll be by in the morning to get that mowing done." Some people are simply on broadcast. Nice guy but... well, I warned Deb we're likely to have a visitor in the morning maybe in the backyard - I don't know!

  Yup Steve arrived bright and early set the mower on low and scalped the Bermuda grass and spit out a couple of gutter ends. I'd been following the logic of mow high in the heat to allow the grass to shade itself. He assured me this was how he mowed his lawn and he does. I would note that he also waters heavily and fertilizes so I'm not sure about that bit but we'll see. He also shared that the small bare patches might be winter kill or could be from shade which he said Bermuda grass doesn't do well in. My ears perked up! I'd noticed bare patches and I'd also noticed a completely different grass type in some areas of neighboring lawns and my own. A Fescue, clearly planted not just an invasive mistake, in the shade.  Perhaps this Kevlar has a Kryptonite, shade?! Not sure what to do with that tidbit just yet but my hour is not up just yet this is still observing time in the garden. Oh yeah and pulling weeds.

 Politics, well it's hard to find a weirder piece of the political world than the war in Ukraine this week. If you've been following any of the events of this past week and have a cogent - or insane explanation of the Russian war efforts please do share it. All I have is weird! Perhaps Putin has his Kryptonite in plain sight. What is the ROI for Putin, Nato, Wagner, and oh yeah Ukraine? I really don't know. I would have to add three points. I did not and do not support the war efforts by my country. I'll let Glenn Beck and Tucker Carlson do the heavy lifting in explaining why and just say I'm an old Libertarian and an older hippy. Second, I was quite sure the Russians army would simply demolish and conquer the Ukraine in days of beginning the war. Third I do not wish a bad human to gain a meter of ground or benefit in any way from evil actions. There is no but..., or a we'll see, in that, simply my truth. A wise man once told me "Of course you have to speak your truth. Who else's truth can you speak!" I would add it's just never wise to assume 'your truth' is 'the truth'.  Perhaps a bit of watching and maybe learning while I watch. 

Reality is what it is and not necessarily what you want it to be.

 Doug A.

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