A previous boss very kindly gave me an
Alstroemeria start many years ago and I’ve tried everything imaginable to
eliminate it from my garden once I realized just how invasive it is. I planted
it in one area and it began to take over that spot. Then, the roots tunneled beneath
the sidewalk to where the majority of my lilies and dahlias reside. I even
found it in the far corner of my yard, but managed to eliminate it from that
spot, a spot I really don’t care much about.
This year, I decided I’d just let it
go and it’s gone, believe me. I have two huge clumps in two different areas and
I’m sure it’s going to try to creep even further into places I do not want it.
I love the color, but the stems aren’t very strong and it ends up laying down
on other plants. The wonderful man who gifted me this plant eventually had his yard
professionally turned into a Japanese garden which contains none of this plant…lucky
guy.
Well, my Wednesdays with Haley have
come to an end. She has a job which requires her presence eight hours a day,
Monday through Friday. When she called to tell me, she said she could come on Saturday
or Sunday, so we’ll see how that goes, and at least we accomplished probably
98% of the needed work.
A
friend of her fathers works for a construction company and last year they hired
Haley to spend early mornings watering the new landscaping at the newly built
homes. This year, the development they have or are building is adjacent a hill
with lots of trees. To make the area even more forest-like, as well as
stabilize the hill I’m assuming, the company has planted lots of plants. I think
Haley said it’s something like five acres, so she’s going to get her exercise
pulling hoses around and going up and down that hill.
Today is also my other granddaughter’s
12th birthday. This will be the first birthday I’ve missed since she
joined the family at the age of about three. I plan to call Thor’s phone and
ask for her so I can sing the birthday song. I’m also debating about putting a
card with a check in the mail or actually driving to Snohomish to drop off the
card with real money…most 12-year-olds don’t have a bank account. I wouldn’t
get out of the car or go into the house, but I could at least blow kisses and
see her open the card. As I’m typing this, I’m still debating with myself.
Finally, what’s really at the top of
my mind since I watched the first 20 minutes of Good Morning America is FEAR.
Yes, I don’t go many places or associate with folks who aren’t taking this
pandemic seriously. Yes, I always wear a mask. Yes, I keep hand sanitizer in my
pocket ALL the time and use it ALL the time. Still, watching the reports this
morning about how this is still the first wave and how many other states and
people are falling ill with the virus terrifies me.
It also makes me quite angry at the
people who won’t participate in wearing a mask. They are extremely stupid, and
hopefully, this is Mother Nature’s way of eliminating Darwin-challenged people
from the gene pool. Unfortunately, the virus doesn’t pick and choose who to inhabit,
so the gene pool is also losing some very good people. Seriously, I don’t have
a Ph.D. or any kind of college degree, but you don’t have to in order to
understand just how grim the pandemic statistics actually are.
If that isn’t enough horrible news,
then you have the reports of shootings and killings and protests. I don’t have
a problem with people protesting peacefully, but why does anyone have to bring
a gun to or drive through people at what is supposed to be a peaceful protest.
It seems as though the world is becoming even more divided, ugly and
forbidding. Is this the kind of world in which my life will end eventually???
How hard is it for anyone to
understand that if you treat people the way you’d like to be treated at all
times, all of us would be so much better off. At my job, when I was a
supervisor, that’s exactly how I treated my staff and how I wanted my
supervisors to treat me. When I was complimented on a project one of my people
had accomplished, I suggested the person saying nice things to me say them to
the person who actually did the work. Then, I also shared what that person had
to say about the job, just in case they didn’t follow through. I believe I had
a happy staff and they always met my expectations.
A perfect example of this was someone
retiring. After the send-off, my boss was talking to me about the event and I
said I was extremely happy that person had left because I didn’t like her/him
one bit. My boss was surprised to hear my comment because I had never provided
a negative indication about my feelings for that staff member. My response was
that I was the supervisor and my personal feelings had nothing to do with the
way I needed to treat that employee. I was just glad I’d never have to deal
with her/him again.
Perhaps my viewpoint is too
simplistic. Perhaps people can’t deal with their envy, greed, negativity, or
whatever it is that causes them to act in a way that is so hurtful, divisive
and irresponsible. I, of course, haven’t said anything about or alluded to the
IDIOT in the White House. He is the prime and premier example of what people
shouldn’t do or say to each other. If the President of the United States can be
that way, it only serves to encourage others to be like that.
In any case, I’m not feeling
particularly hopeful about the next few years of my life. It’s a good thing I
do like me, myself and I because it’s entirely possible that may be the only
real companionship in my future. Today, I’m feeling frightened and sad.
Tomorrow’s post will, hopefully, be more uplifting.
No comments:
Post a Comment