Pruning

I set out to do some yard work on Saturday. I dug out the gloves and clippers, and prepared for some pruning, but was totally startled by the amount of vines covering part of our backyard.

How had it gotten this bad?

At first, it was almost comical how quickly and completely the vines had grown and covered so much ground. Franken-vines. It was funny until it was not -- until I realized that I had to put down the clippers and just start pulling with my hands.

How had I let these vines take over?

I was busy. How was I supposed to have time for things like pruning vines?

Of course that sounded hollow. I thought of Marie Howe's poem entitled "Magdalene -- The Seven Devils" and that first line: "The first was that I was very busy..."

We were all busy. It wasn't just me. But that just sounded like I was looking for someone else to blame, and that wasn't the question that was bothering me. I kept wondering -- as two grasshoppers startled me by landing on my leg -- how had I let it get like this? 

Ouch. My arm had run up against thorns, and I had to bring the clippers out again. I wasn't expecting thorns. I thought we were only dealing with one species of vines here...

I wasn't quite expecting the answer that came to me, a few hours later, as I was finishing up. I slowly became aware of the work I had done, and aware of the fact that if the weather hadn't been so cool, I never would have been able to get all of it finished. Thank God for the weather. 

Ah. There it was. Gratitude. Maybe I was busy. Maybe some of those things were worthwhile. But -- the grateful person takes care of what she has. A grateful person takes time to pause in gratitude and prune away those things that threaten growth and life. More gratitude means fewer vines and thorns.

I stepped back. The vines were bagged. The yard was clear again. Maybe it was a little better than before, actually. I was sore and tired and a little concerned that the poison ivy had gotten on my face (it hadn't). But I resolved that there would be more gratitude in my life. Time to begin again.