Again with the Mowing!

Mowing the ever growing grass, flowers, and weeds has become my primary duty at Cow Creek.

 We have allowed several fields to “re-wild” this year in part because the task is so daunting but also because we understand the natural path of the wildlife a little better.

This week I brought something home with me. A souvenir of sorts.

Let me preface this by saying I am not allergic to poison ivy nor am I allergic to poison oak. And while I don’t roll around in it, I also don’t have a problem with removing it with my bare hands when required. No reaction. So that’s not it.

 What I am allergic to is everything else, everything I love. Grass, trees, and weeds. I know because I have been tested.

 A good steroid cream and a rescue inhaler usually help. Without them I have been known to itch myself until I am bleeding just to get relief.

 But I love mowing the grass.

 With every scratch I remember my little cabin. I guess you could say I left a piece of myself in the Appalachian mountains.

 I subscribe to a blog called the daily stoic. The author penned so perfectly what I am trying to say I would like to quote him.

“So what is there then? What matters? What lasts? Just the moment. A moment of joy. A moment of artistic expression and innovation. A moment of discipline and self-control. A moment of bravery. Marcus Aurelius may have said that all this was transitory, but he also said that it was plenty, that an afternoon or evening or handful of seconds of it was enough.

 And it is. It’s all there is.”

 I would add that a moment of mowing the grass with the doggies near, no thought of anything other than the task at hand.

 My little cabin waiting for my return. That is enough, at least until next week.