I’m neighbored out. It’s amazing how we can live in the middle of nowhere on a little farm and still, there’s neighborhood drama. I feel like it’s been going on all spring, too, culminating in one specific neighbor popping by last weekend to pontificate about a situation she’s in which led to her talking crap about some other neighbors who are good people which led to me calling her out on being poorly behaved (Robert says I should have kept my mouth shut but there’s a moment when silence is the same as lying and I couldn’t tolerate her thinking that I agreed with her) which led to her screaming at me at the top of her lungs and coming completely unhinged which led to her telling me she would see me in court.
HOLD ON.
What???!!???? Gold star for bad behavior and bullying, neighbor lady, and thank you for making me LAUGH aloud as you drove away!!! Too ridiculous!
I’m not interested in being enemies with this woman but I sure as heck don’t want to be friends. I can practice civility but I can’t have any of this individual in my life. And that’s ok. But it raises the question: what do we do when the lives of others begin to spin out and crash into our own lives? What do we do when others splash unsavory details all over our tranquility? What do we do with the neighborhood-arse? Every neighborhood has an arse, every office has a jerk, every swimming pool has had a turd floating in it. I know the answer is not to move again, to a bigger farm or ranch that has a wider buffer zone between my neighbors and I…or maybe that is the answer? The fact is no matter where we go we’re going to have to live with others to some degree. The only thing I can think to do is take my lessons as I can from the people I have to share this canyon with — some lessons will be full of joy and others will be hard knocks. And more importantly, I think I’ll strive to be a good neighbor to my neighbors. Lord knows, one rotten egg is more than enough rotten eggs in this community.
If you’re reading this rant-of-exhaustion of mine this morning, I suppose I just want people to know that despite the fact I have created a beautiful sanctuary for myself to live and work within, there are still human generated disruptions in my life and I know there are for you, too. We’ll all get through it in good time. In the meanwhile, sow flowers, tug weeds.
ON THE TOPIC OF GROWING THINGS:
My gardens are coming up so beautifully here. I managed to get the last of everything planted over the weekend and chased the garden planting with an intense two days of shrub, tree and rose planting. Everything is in the ground now drinking up water and sunshine and getting taller every day. Each morning when I survey my cultivated dominion I’m amazed at how quickly things grow. I wish there was a way to measure growth of adults. So much of how we grow and change once we are physically mature humans is invisible!
ON THE TOPIC OF GARDENING FAILURES:
I confess to being in extreme dahlia distress. I’m in the depths of despair! I think all my dahlia bulbs are duds. I don’t know what I’ll do without them. My dahlia grove brought me a lot of joy and beauty last summer. I might have to go to the plant nursery one last time to see if I can remedy the situation but I think all may be lost.
How do your gardens grow?
