In The Garden

Tags

Gardening, Procrastination

I should be in the garden pulling weeds today. It’s supposed to rain…in a couple days. That’s my excuse. Or I find other things I must do like go to the store to get milk and ibuprofen. I did that yesterday and, as I was entering the store, I just casually noticed a woman fussing with the plants on the racks in front near the entrance. Inside I wandered around the store aisles looking for other non-absolute-essentials.  I paid for the milk and medicine and headed out to my car. I passed the woman again, still in front of the flower six-packs. This time I looked more closely. I realized she was actually weeding the merchandise! Clearly she was not an employee as she wasn’t wearing the customary blue smock with the “May I Help You” name tag. She was maybe in her mid sixties, dressed in grey jeans and had a smart looking black leather fringe purse strapped across her chest. She kept glancing over her shoulder, which made me think this wasn’t her first time doing this, and that she was wary of being caught. I thought of my mom and how often she has come to our house and gotten out of the car, only to be side-tracked by pulling errant weeds from our front yard before making her way to the front door. The kids would see the car and then wonder, where’s Grandma? As I pulled into the driveway of our home, I stared at those lush green weeds and thought too, where’s Grandma? Or better yet, where’s that woman so eager to clean up other’s neglected flower beds?

Kayaking Looked So Easy

It was many summers ago when we were at a large park in a neighboring city. Our kids were younger then, maybe 10 and 12? We drove by a small lake and got the impulse to rent some kayaks and paddle about for the remainder of the afternoon. None of us had really done any kayaking but these were very simple, light-weight yellow boats that looked like giant pea pods. We agreed the kids would each have their own and my husband and I would share a two person kayak…along with the dog.

Everyone put on a life-jacket (we were always a “safety first” family). The kids pushed off from the sandy shore, while my husband and I debated who should sit in the front. Being two notorious alpha male types, there was much debate. It was finally decided that I would sit in front, where I felt I could best navigate, and my husband would sit in back, where he felt he could best navigate.  The dog sat in the middle, just hoping for a pleasant ride and a little wind in his face.

We paddled out from the shore, realizing the kids were already well out on the lake. I was immediately struck by how wobbly the boat was with very little shifting, especially by the dog. I immediately looped his leash over my leg. I also secured my purse straps over the other leg. (Yes, I had my purse. As I said, this was an impulse move so I was not really prepared…) My husband and I were verbally working to coordinate our paddle strokes and catch up with our kids. This was definitely one of those many moments that challenges your marriage and, whether or not you are really a good match.

Our kids had headed into a small lagoon and so we followed. We steered into (or should I say my husband steered us into) a low tree limb that I made a very quick movement to avoid. That quick movement resulted in our kayak flipping over and dumping all its contents into the lake. My husband clambered onto the lowest part of the tree limb. I desperately reached down in search of my sunken purse. We both suddenly realized our smart phones had gone into the water as well! The kids watched laughing at first, then yelled for the dog, who was curiously bobbing up and down from the water’s surface. Apparently his leash was still attached to my leg and as I thrashed about, I unknowingly was pulling him under as he struggled to stay afloat! I was literally drowning our poor dog.

Somehow my husband managed to right the kayak while I hoisted our hacking dog back in. We struggled but eventually got back into the kayak, our kids laughing and paddling around us. I had retrieved my purse and all its contents, and few additional rocks and sticks. The smart phones weren’t looking very promising. Suddenly my husband noticed a lot of blood on his thigh and a sudden sharp pain. I looked in horror to see a fairly good sized fish hook imbedded in his leg! It had been lodged in the tree limb until he climbed up and the hook sunk into his thigh. In all the chaos he hadn’t noticed until this moment. I immediately began to flag down a park ranger cruising around the lake in her motor boat. She directed us to the shore saying she would alert the lifeguard staff to come down to the shore to meet us.

The rescue workers took one look at my husband’s leg and said there was nothing they could do. We needed to get to an ER where there were proper tools to surgically remove the hook. Really? They couldn’t just pull it out? Apparently not. Soaking wet and frustrated, we got in the car and drove to the nearest hospital. My husband pulled up to the ER and went in while we waited with the wet dog. Not long after, my husband returned to the car saying we had to go to another hospital. While he was waiting, a man came in with chest pain and proceeded to have a heart attack there in the waiting room. They told my husband it would be a very long time and he should go somewhere else. At this point we were all just looking at each other in disbelief.

We got on the freeway and drove to the hospital in our town. Fortunately they weren’t very busy. The ER doctor that my husband saw had just returned from a fishing trip to Alaska. While removing the hook, he told a story about a fisherman who had ended up with a giant fishing hook in his back. I suppose that was supposed to make my husband feel better. Either way, I was glad when that whole ordeal was over. We did put the smart phones in bags of rice but they were unsalvagable. Needless to say, we haven’t gone kayaking since. My kids say Mom and Dad should never ever share a kayak….especially with the dog.