The Therapy Bush

Back in 2012 - I wrote a post about the therapy bush. I still feel the same way about it:  the trimming job is an opportunity to do some thinking about just about everything. Here’s the report from the first 2014 trimming.

The bush had needed a trim for at least a month. Every time my husband backed out of the garage, the branches brushed the side of his car. Maybe I noticed them more from my vantage point in the passenger seat. We had been having a lot of rainy days and I learned to not trim the bush when the tiny flowers were open (too many insects) - one morning this week was my opportunity to spend some quality time with the bush.

I thought the morning would be a good time since the temperature was the lowest it would be for the day. I neglected that the bush gets morning sun. The sun felt like it was burning my exposed skin almost immediately but I was determined. Working fast became a goal.  Random thoughts percolated:

• There is always something more that needs to be done in the yard. I made a mental list.
• I liked that my daughter was trying to grow tomatoes on her patio --- wishing I could be around to see the positive results. She is on the other side of the country and I’m feeling the separation more these days.
• Moving is going to be wrenching when it happens. I like the big trees and the walls of green they make. They hide a lot of potential ugliness. I was thinking about what my perfect house would have but then decided that people I live with are more important than the house.
• The melding of tangent thoughts to the Coursera courses I am taking. It isn’t obvious that such diverse topics as Nubia, Global Health, Chronic Pain, and Exoplanets would have linkages but they somehow do. Ancient Nubia and Global Health are a lot about Africa. The image of obese royalty in ancient times is also another link between those two courses - and to Chronic Pain course as well. One of the connections between Chronic Pain and Exoplanets is the understanding of diverse skillsets needed to make progress in many fields.

It took about an hour to finish the job. I was hot and itchy by that time but snapped an ‘after’ image. I carried the trimmings - and some rotten parts of the bush that fell away as I was trimming - back to the edge of the forest. Going into the cool of the house afterwards felt very good!