There was no battle.

I know what I put up there for a title. But let’s face it. There are no battles for me. I’m 34 years old. I work for a living in a secure job. I have a wife and kids. I drive a minivan. (You can’t imagine how much it hurts to admit that.) I have disturbingly yuppy-like tendencies. There will be no battles, no adventures, no quests for me. Which sucks.

I grew up with heroes like Spiderman and Luke Skywalker. Normal guys who suddenly found themselves having big adventures. But it looks like it isn’t going to happen for me. So I amuse myself by picturing the drudgery of my daily life as a series of battles with evil opponents who must be vanquished. Pathetic. I know.

Today, I went in to my backyard. I guess I hadn’t been out there for a while. The grass was up to my knees and going to seed. I used to have such a nice lawn. I mowed it, but all that did was make all the weeds in garden seem that much worse. I decided that this was it. I had no choice but to take on the evil weeds. And rescue my poor overwhelmed perennials.

I armed my self with gloves and and my weed pulling tool. In just over 2 hours I filled 3 garbage bags with weeds. It was very hot out, and I loved it. I don’t know why, but being out there working and sweating like that makes me feel more alive somehow. So it wasn’t exactly a pitched battle between good and evil. But those weeds were out of control. Dandelions, those prickly one that will get you even with gloves on, clover, and a bunch of stragglers from my neighbor’s garden. I don’t know why some one would want to plant ground cover that spreads in a garden that small. And not just one kind of ground cover, but several. They have spread all over her garden, into her yard, into my garden.

I did mange to rescue my lily of the valley, liberate my lavender, and free my hostas. I still need to mulch and plant some annuals. The yard needs some weed and feed. I’ll try to get this done and then I can feel free to ignore it for a few more months.