Watering Trees is Not as Serene or Straightforward as It Sounds

[qos]

I have been here well over an hour.

During that time I have watered five or six young trees.

The rest of the time has been spent wrestling with very long hoses, non-strategically placed pumps, nozzles, nettles, and thistles. I still have not managed to get a working hose configuration after reaching the limit of the one I started with. I'm filthy, wet, and have a small nettle irritation on the side of my left hand. It rains lightly every so often, but not enough to do the trees any good, only enough to mock me.

The Queen of Swords chose a volunteer gig involving Water why?

I am taking a break to drink water and clear my head before starting over. Part of me just wants to flee, but that would be shameful. I refuse to be beaten by a garden hose, no matter how long and recalcitrant!

Comments

[tamnonlinear.livejournal.com]

Before enlightenment: chop wood, carry water.

After enlightenment: chop wood, carry water.

(doing the first is on task for today. Doing the second indicates the stress has gone a little too deep.)

[qos.livejournal.com]

I was thinking about those phrases a lot, even before you left the comment. ;-)

[watcher457.livejournal.com]

Don't look at the hose as an inconvenience. Look at it as a challenge to overcome. I know that helps me.

Years ago (many, many years ago) I was on a field trip for school. I was in England, and the military base schools were very big on week-long field trips to explore the country you were in. Anyways, we went to Dover (I think) and for our Science stuff, we went to the shore to canvas for the kind of marine life we could find. We had those standing doo-hickies that measured distances and everything. It felt very scientific. Well, it was drizzling. Drizzling+shore+England= Very cold, wet, and cranky Angie. Then, I considered it a challenge. These were the kind of treacherous (I was a kid. gimme a break), less-than-comfortable conditions real scientists work in. The moment I considered that my work had meaning, and the water and cold were a challenge to do this 'important' work, it actually became incredibly fun. I had a total blast.

To sum up, look at the work from a different angle. You expected it to be serene and it's not. Okay, so what else is it besides a pain in the ass? Is it experiments in the logistics of gardening? Is it a challenge between Water and Earth with Air(or Fire, depend on your QoS) as intemediary? Even if you consider this playing pretend, what's wrong with that if it makes it fun?

[qos.livejournal.com]

:-)

These are all the sensible, mature things I would usually say to myself in this situation -- but I was so stressed out by the time I made this post that none of that was working for me.

Fortunately I was able to take a break, drink a lot of water, and chill out so I could get my brain back on line. I never achieved a particularly enlightened mental-spiritual state, but I got the job done, which I considered victory enough for the day.

[watcher457.livejournal.com]

Well, at least you calmed down. Really, it sucks to be defeated by a garden hose, but you did triumph.

[qos.livejournal.com]

I suppose that technically it was a gang of garden hoses! I have no idea how many, but it was at least a dozen.

And they all jumped me at once!

;-)

[watcher457.livejournal.com]

And you had to fight them from downhill in three feet of snow.

[wlotus.livejournal.com]

Well, that doesn't sound the least bit soothing. I'd be frustrated, too.

[qos.livejournal.com]

It got better, but I really had to work at it: including taking some time out to hydrate and chill out so I could get my brain back online.

[blessed-harlot.livejournal.com]

I hope the experience improved for you.

[qos.livejournal.com]

It did.

I had to really work through my emotional issues, but I finally got clarity and was able to figure out what I needed to do. That felt good on all kinds of levels.

[qos.livejournal.com]

Manual labor is good for paring us down.

And it's something I have very little experience with. Yesterday was sobering on several levels.