take nothing for granted

We're preparing our house for Ryan's big graduation party tomorrow, doing all sorts of yard work and related tasks in the sweltering heat and annoying humidity which is so common to Los Angeles in July.

We have a few places in our yard that are little more than dirt and weed patches, lacking only the "Future Home of A Wonderful Garden!" or "Excuse Our Mess While We Bring You Something Magical!" signs . . . that probably should have gone up two years ago.

I spent close to an hour in one of those areas, choking down clouds of dust, scratching the hell out of my hands and arms while pulling weeds, and suffering the great indignity of stepping in old dog shit several times.

I was starting to get really annoyed by the whole goddamn thing when I found myself right next to our one rose bush, a solitary shrub in the midst of this neglect that defiantly produces dozens of fragrant blooms every year.

Baking in the sun, surrounded by dust and weeds and dog shit, I stopped everything, and smelled the flowers.

Comments

[KCFlatlander]

You know, it's funny you talk about your flowers and humidity today...here in Kansas City, my wife and I (who met on the old WWDN Soapbox, BTW) did the exactly the same thing today...I pulled so much crab grass from the garden I thought I was going to rename myself Dungeness (OK bad joke), but between the weeds and sweat and the compost lies a huge blooming hibiscus and our roses, and daisies, and the squirrels haven't got the tomatoes yet...and we smiled. Yes, Virginia, the hard work IS for something.

[orclgrl]

Stopping to appreciate the the beauty amidst the chaos is what makes life special...not a lot of folks would've taken that moment.

[tr4cy]

Isn't it funny how we avoid maintaining these places or things that aren't quite in the shape that we'd like them to be? If the backyard were beautifully landscaped, would you feel more inclined to spend time keeping it beautiful and well taken care of? Inevitably, you find yourself spending a weekend making what is commonly neglected every day appear less neglected than it truly is in order to entertain somebody. Do we do this out of embarrassment or to try and help the guests feel more comfortable? Perhaps a little of both?

No, no ... the defiant beauty standing solitary among the dusty neglect has not escaped me. Not everyone can slow down enough to see, or smell for that matter, the beauty amidst the chaos. Nothing like having a real experience to fit the old saying!

[ChaoticMelancholy]

And this is what life is about. Simple and yet so easily forgotten.

[Bog]

It's when you're surrounded by shit, and feeling like hell that you need to stop and smell the flowers.

If nothing else, it drowns out the stink of dogshit.

[Tara]

It seems that we are reminded of simple pleasures, such as smelling the flowers, when we are having a hard day.
~~TARA~~

[Freeman]

"A rose, by any other name, smells just as sweet."
And today being the lucky day 7/7/7, the importance of the number seven goes back to biblical times. "Peter asked Jesus, 'If my brother sins against me, should I forgive him seven times?' And Jesus answered, 'You should forgive him seventy times seven times.'" Matthew 18:21.

[doog]

I hear ya Wil. Been doing the same at my little flakeboard-and-staple palace.

I keep reminding myself that at least I *have* a house.

And suddenly... it IS a castle again.

Oh... wait... I hear the 'Queen' screeching... gotta go...

yeeeess deear....

[todbrilliant]

The real joy is that, in a few short decades, much of our farmland will be little more than dirt and weed patches!

Great thing is we still elect our politicians based on their war rhetoric (as if war is, in the end, really that important), instead of how they plan to help manage our natural resources.

So, enjoy those roses while you can. Not to be a killjoy, mind you.

[HeatherJoy]

This probably isn't the place to comment about something unrelated, but I don't know where else to do it. I watched Toy Soldiers today... totally awesome movie, which I've seen a million times. You made the movie for me. Thanks Wil.

[Jenn M.]

Good for you. It's important to do that once in a while. I hope you have a great party!

[starshine_diva]

Your shorter snapshots are always just as seductive as the longer tales... in a totally intellectual way.

[Scott T]

Antique rose bush? Flower companies spend so much time promoting the next big hybrid that we forget about 'the originals.' Those rose bushes that have thrived for centuries practically unchanged with no special care.

DO smell the flowers once in a while.

Congratulations Ryan!!!

[Craig Steffen]

Please pass on congratulations to Ryan! Good luck in college!

My canonical gift to graduates used to be a single-cup coffee maker. I think nowdays it would be a nice big flash drive for backing stuff up. Remember, Ryan, save early, save often, and don't close the final version of the document on the lab's computer until you physically have the printout in your hand.

Wil; if Ryan isn't taking a printer to school with him, you might consider investing in a laser printer for him. You can get them now for a few hundred dollars, and they are more than worth it when you're writing lots of papers.

Good luck, and hope the party is lots of fun!

[VeronicaRobinson]

SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT...oh hey. What's going on?

It's so grounding when that happens.

[jtbwriter]

You just put a tear in my eye..all the things you mentioned describe our former home...where I lived for 42 years. I hated cleaning up the fruit from the fruit trees (that which the SGV parrots didn't get!), trying not to step in the gopher holes and watering the dead grass so we could set off the still legal fireworks.

Apartment living is nice-but you made me miss the bane of my weekends just now. Thanks for reminding us not to wish away the tiresome, it might just do that!
Good luck to Ryan, and with fingers and toes crossed, just maybe I and my friend Maribeth might see you in LV!

[Bud Fields]

Sorry for being out of touch for a while. Congrats to Ryan, and to his family. Way ta go!

Sometimes, we have to get right in the middle of the tough stuff to find the diamonds, huh? :)

[CamSavWin]

Your post reminded me of a Robert Frost poem I read in high school, "Passing Glimpses." The last line is, "Heaven gives it glimpses only to those/
Not in position to look too close."

Guess Robert was wrong, huh?

Congrats to your family and good luck to your (step)son!

[AndyR]

Reading this post and the following comments have reminded me about the single rose in King's The Dark Tower Series.

Sometimes a single flower is more than just a single flower.

[John]

Excellent.

[erin12]

This is unrelated to the topic of Wil's post today, but I'm passing this on in hopes that some of you in the LA / San Diego area might be able to help. You never know...six degrees and all that.

The younger sister of a guy from my dorm at Harvard (Daniel Jou), Donna Jou has been missing for now two weeks. Police are searching for John Burgess, a person of interest, who may be connected to her disappearance.

Details are below as well as in the news links.

WHAT TO DO
Please, please pass this information along so that we can reach someone who knows any more details about Donna's disappearance or about the suspect, John Burgess.

Information can also be found on the facebook, myspace, friendster and hi5 groups. Please join them/invite your friends so that we can increase the chance of finding someone who knows any information:
http://harvard.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2802490762&ref=mf
http://harvard.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2568087133
http://groups.myspace.com/donnajou
http://www.hi5.com/friend/group/2280295--DONNA%2BJOU%2BMISSING--front-html
http://www.friendster.com/group/tabmain.php?gid=673625&e=1

==============
Donna Jou, 19, went missing two weeks ago having left her home in Rancho Santa Margarita, CA with a man identified as John Steven Burgess. She was headed to a party in Santa Monica.
She is a student in Santiago Canyon College in Orange California where she is currently taking summer classes.

She was last seen by family and friends on June 23

The police is looking for JOHN STEVEN BURGESS. aka "Kyle"
- He has posted on craigslist before
- Burgess was renting a West Los Angeles-area house where Jou was last seen June 23 or 24.
- He drives a 1998 Ford compact truck with the license plate "Sinjin1,"
- He was last seen with indistinguishable tattoos on his left shoulder, wearing a white sleeveless shirt, blue jeans and a black motorcycle helmet.

If you have any information on the following, please notify the Orange County Police Department on 714-647-7049

http://cbs2.com/topstories/local_story_186141840.html

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19621637/

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19624797/

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/136369 44/detail.html?rss=dgo&psp=news

[Bitt Faulk]

Not to compare sizes, but Wunderground says that in Fullerton (which I assume is not too far away from you), the dewpoint hovered around 63°F all day and the temperature got up to 84°F. On the same day here, we were at about 70°F dewpoint and a high of 98°F. And I'm sure there were a huge number of places well hotter and muggier than here. So I don't want to hear any more bellyaching about the weather from anyone in the South Land. If you want to complain about earthquakes, feel free. ;)

[ChaosInOrder]

Beautiful. Nicely done!

[OhBlahDah]

Hey! I was in the yard working yesterday -- found several patches of dirt and too many weeds.

I also had to rake 1/2 ton of leaves as July has dried out our sickly elms.

I "feel you" when you describe pulling dusty old weeds and stepping in dog doo. I was sweating up a storm and scraping it off of my shoe before diving into the chore some more.

My satisfaction came when it was all done, dinner was over, and I went outside to admire the yard.

How was grad party??