Today was my split day of work as I’m sure many have. Part of it was office work and the other part was performing manual labor. I believe it’s good for all of us to engage in a little physical labor over having our minds focused on the normal office routines on a daily basis. I spent more hours than expected getting a dear old friend’s flower garden and hedgerow prepared for the winter months. He pays someone to keep his yard mowed and snow shoveled but as most contract yard people do, this person would have charged extra for his one-time Fall landscape cleanup. I said to him when I was finished, “Well it looks like your yard is about as tidy as it has been in a very long time.” One reason I like doing little things for him is that he is so very appreciative. Nearly all of his relatives are deceased and his children live out of State. It’s very sad seeing some of our elderly left to fend for themselves because their family members are either too “bizzy” to make time or have flimsy excuses not to visit more often with mindsets their children and grandchildren are more important than an aging parent or sibling.
Every time I think about such things I’m reminded of a woman who believed the sun rose and sat on her children as well as her grandchildren. I didn’t like being around her because of the excessive bragging about them. She did little to nothing to help her aging mother who lived out of State. Not long ago I heard of her passing and got the rest of the story from one of her relatives in how she was left alone up to just before her passing. Of course the children came running when it was nearly all over and must have thought they’d be given some sort of absolution for not being there when really needed.
I wonder if before she died she remembered how she dismissed her own mother. Many say that before one gives up their Spirit, their life passes before them and begin wrestling with it all. Not long ago I visited a not so nice man who was on his way out and witnessed what seemed true to this fast track news-reeling of a dying person’s mind and how he seemed desperate in his resistance of death. Having known him personally, I suspected he was wishing he could go back in time and change some of his actions. Much too little and far late to change the past. I’m sure this happens over and over again with those who’re living their last days and hours.
One of my “must do’s” this morning was to dig up the geraniums that were growing along the back wall of my office. In knowing it’s going to get down into the 20’s later this week, I figured I’d better do it today instead of waiting until the last day before the freeze. I now have them potted and inside where they’ll hopefully survive the winter in their half sleep. It’s very important not to water them very much as well as not allowing them to be in full sunlight since they’re in need of their resting time. It amazes me how quickly they respond to extra water and sunlight when Spring arrives. They’re so happy to get out of their pots and when planted, you can almost watch them grow.
I thought it best to take a photo before digging them up because I absolutely cannot remember the last time we had flowers outside blooming on the 15th of November. It’s all due to not yet having a hard frost. With this photo, I shall be reminded of them as being my last blooms of mid-November. Global warming is with us.
