Clean Your Window!

I’m excited because today I will finish the first of three “large” sections of the yard that I plan to seed to lawn in the Fall. By “finishing,” I mean it will be prepped for the addition of a mixture of peat moss, manure and purchased (loamy) and purloined (barren) soil.

But part of today will also include creating a small garden in one part of the yard where I am working. It’s where I’ll put some plants that are not doing well in gardens that now get much more sunlight. It’s going to feel good, rescuing them and creating a new garden space. I do everything instinctually; I have no plan, so I make mistakes that require correcting.

Given the speed with which I’m working, I’ll have finished the landscaping of the vast majority of my half-acre lot this Fall. I have often asked myself why I do this work—I have few guests and they could care less about the landscaping. It’s not like many see what I do. But I now know it gives me something to do. 

It’s a hobby, not a necessity or something I do for others. Doing it fulfills me in the same way that making the paper dresses did. 

I can remember vividly how terribly foreign this place felt when I came here. I lived with a constant sense that my life here was temporary; I felt I’d have to leave. Now, with almost every inch of this place purposed by me, its more my home than anywhere else I have ever lived.

•

I learned something fabulous yesterday. My mouse was not working terribly well and hadn’t for a long time. I’d had the problem before and solved the problem by buying a new mouse—in fact, two, in case the problem happened again. 

But rather than searching for the other mouse I bought, something made me think to clean the little “dot” of window that the mouse uses to “see.” And eureka! It’s like new again. So clean your mouse “window” on its underside and see if it becomes much more responsive.