I pull my neighbor’s weeds. I walk right over that invisible property line like I own it. Whether it’s an inch tall sprig of clover or a two foot tall thistle that snuck up under a bush, I pull weeds that belong to others. Because if you see something that’s bad, you should do something about it. Ultimately, it’s going to affect you. You can let it flower and seed and then you’ll have 30 of what used to be 1 in your neighbor’s yard. Now, it’s not like I go over there with herbicide and spray their lawns for dandelions. I do recognize there are some lines you don’t cross. I’m not the dandelion police. I just make a few citizen’s arrests from time to time.
Weeds even creep into my dreams. I had this dream last night and I’ve had it before. I discover an evil, vining, wild morning glory has crept into the perennials and wrapped itself around the stems of the flowers, choking them. The tap root on a wild morning glory can reach 20 feet into the soil and if you leave even a tiny bit, it grows back. So you can’t just pull it, you have to tear it away from what it’s strangling and then you have to dig it out. I recognize this dream as a metaphor for something going on in my life that’s bothering me. A weed I haven’t pulled. A problem I haven’t addressed. Insightful right?
Now here’s the beauty of it. The way I work out the problems in my life, is by bending over in the garden and pulling weeds. It is the most calming, effective meditation I know. I just seem to be able to work things out that way. And if it’s a particularly difficult problem, I just mosey on into my neighbors yard and pull their weeds too. You never run out of weeds. Which is great, because you never run out of problems. Happy weeding.
