Wild Friday Night…?
Anybody remember the days when you lived for Friday/Saturday night? Maybe you still do? I remember how I couldn’t stand the idea of a weekend night going to waste. In high school/college… it was all about getting invited to the best parties. Or even helping pull one together. In my 20’s or 30’s it was about getting into the best bars to hear a band… or hang with the crew.
But somewhere along the line… things began to change. I guess weekends are still precious as a working man. But over time priorities seemed to change. Suddenly the biggest, best party or club didn’t really matter. It started coming down to spending time with those dearest to me… or just doing something I enjoy. At some point I stopped looking for an event… and really just started to appreciate the simple pleasures.
Even when the kids were younger… it was no longer about parties… but it was still about finding a way to “entertain”! Now days it is even more simple… just being happy to be able to relax. I still enjoy the nights I have something special to do. Tonight was NOT one of those nights.
I finished up my work for the week. It was kind of a busy day dealing with the side effects of the whole CrowdStrike fiasco. Computers/systems/networks down all over… kind of like what everybody thought Y2K might be like. I found myself not able to get my computer to boot the night before. Luckily our IT technicians were on the ball and had my PC working as expected early the next morning… so I could start supporting our users since our system was affected. In the end we managed to recover fairly gracefully. There was a day this would have required a “happy hour” or two… or…
Instead… I grabbed a long screw driver… a five gallon bucket… a big glass of iced tea… and sat in the front yard pulling weeds all night. Not what I would call fun… certainly not entertaining. Yet relaxing and satisfying. The poor yard kind of got neglected for decades. And when mowing with the tractor… it cut anything/everything off without issue. However, when I started mowing with the reel mower to use that time to also get exercise… those tall weeds that seem to grow six inches in a day… started to become more noticeable as they would just bend over flat, avoid the rotating blades and spring back up after the mower passed. They took extra time and positioning to get them to stand up enough to get cut. Over time I started to look at theses things as a nemesis… and decided to start a mission to eliminate them.
So now I have a new “hobby” for a while. As a result… I spent a Friday night crawling around the yard… seeking out my annoying little nemesis… loosening the dirt around them… and pulling them out by the roots. Cause if you hear the snap of those long roots breaking… it is like hearing Arnold Schwarzenegger… “I’ll be Back”! There is no way to get them all in one pass… but I can be patient… and just get the majority now… and get those that do pop back up again then. This time it’s the narrow leaf plantain I seek. Maybe next time it will be the dandelions and/or broad leaf plantain.
It is strangely satisfying doing such a simple, earthly task. And I think this goes hand in hand with my plan to build a front porch on the house. Get a lawn worth protecting… a porch to sit on… and when I retire… I can sit out there and yell “Get Off My Lawn” like an old man is supposed to! But for now… once it is too dark to see the weeds… it’s time for a nice walk.
A wild Friday night might be nice every once in a while. But I feel blessed to be able to appreciate these simple pleasures. I hope this finds you content with what life brings your way… and/or still motivated to go out and find what you need when it doesn’t! Peace of mind and heart to You!