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cathyr19355 at 08:34pm on 29/08/2004
cathyr19355 at 08:34pm on 29/08/2004Vanished, under huge masses of vegetation, whose unusual (even by the standards of my backyard) growth likely is due to all the rain we've been having.
I pondered the situation. I can't do yard work during the week because by the time I get home, it's dark. We are heading for Worldcon in just a few days, so putting off the inevitable struggle until next weekend was not an option.
No, unless I wanted my house to disappear next under the alien green tide, I had to act immediately.
So for the past three hours I have pulled, sheared, snapped, uprooted and plucked unwanted plant life. I got covered in a mist of dirt; it got on my teeth and, I swear, behind my eyeballs. I tugged on vines so tough I expected to open a doorway to the Underworld and see Pluto drive up in his black chariot. (And if that black chariot had said on its sides, "Pluto's Landscaping Service", I'd have gone with him, too. "Six months a year in the Underworld in exchange for never having any plant grow to unwanted lengths in my yard again? No problem.")
It was a learning experience of the kind about which sages exclaim, "Oh, no, not another learning experience!" Seriously, I did learn the following things:
* After four months, pine needles transmogify into topsoil of a richness that positively delights most plants cultivated as ground cover.
* "Ground cover" plants grow everywhere except where you want them most.
* Home Depot doesn't sell machetes.
But it was worth it. The portion of sidewalk along the side of my house, heading to the backyard, is completely visible again, and cleanly swept. The "ground cover" that was taking over my front sidewalk has been beaten back, and the prickly weeds that were infesting the flower bed by the left side of the house have been removed.
The sidewalk along the rear of my house, alas, remains mostly missing, as darkness has intervened. That will have to be attacked another day, whether I like it or not.
Oh, and my neighbor claims it's going to rain again tormorrow. :-)
I pondered the situation. I can't do yard work during the week because by the time I get home, it's dark. We are heading for Worldcon in just a few days, so putting off the inevitable struggle until next weekend was not an option.
No, unless I wanted my house to disappear next under the alien green tide, I had to act immediately.
So for the past three hours I have pulled, sheared, snapped, uprooted and plucked unwanted plant life. I got covered in a mist of dirt; it got on my teeth and, I swear, behind my eyeballs. I tugged on vines so tough I expected to open a doorway to the Underworld and see Pluto drive up in his black chariot. (And if that black chariot had said on its sides, "Pluto's Landscaping Service", I'd have gone with him, too. "Six months a year in the Underworld in exchange for never having any plant grow to unwanted lengths in my yard again? No problem.")
It was a learning experience of the kind about which sages exclaim, "Oh, no, not another learning experience!" Seriously, I did learn the following things:
* After four months, pine needles transmogify into topsoil of a richness that positively delights most plants cultivated as ground cover.
* "Ground cover" plants grow everywhere except where you want them most.
* Home Depot doesn't sell machetes.
But it was worth it. The portion of sidewalk along the side of my house, heading to the backyard, is completely visible again, and cleanly swept. The "ground cover" that was taking over my front sidewalk has been beaten back, and the prickly weeds that were infesting the flower bed by the left side of the house have been removed.
The sidewalk along the rear of my house, alas, remains mostly missing, as darkness has intervened. That will have to be attacked another day, whether I like it or not.
Oh, and my neighbor claims it's going to rain again tormorrow. :-)
exhausted