• 

• 

• 

“Looking good.”

“You at it again?”

“These trees will work you.”

“It’s a never ending job….”

It IS a never ending job and a never ending parade of people passing by with suggestions, anecdotes and words of encouragement.

The job at hand (raking and sweeping the sidewalks that surround the house) has been ongoing for the last few weeks (although I think the last of the needles have finally dropped and we now have the upper hand.)

During this process I have received LOTS of advice and learned a thing or two.

“You should get yourself some headphones. Listen to music while you work.” While I usually enjoy doing just that and “zoning out” I have found the process of being fully engaged and present rewarding on a basic level. There is something soothing and therapeutic about the repetition of motion, the feel of the rake in my hands, the scrape of the metal tines against concrete. The mocking of birds from the rooftop, the sound of the breeze through the near empty branches.

“This is a big job. You should get someone to help you.” My husband will help me when he is done with his “day job” but to be honest, I enjoy doing the work myself. There is a sense of accomplishment that comes from this physical labor; a connection between the body and the outside world. Progress paid for with aching muscles. There is a sense of pride at the end of the day when you can SEE the pile of debris, measure your effort, see it represented in physical form.

“You’re raking too deep” this from an older man as he pauses to survey my progress and sees me struggling with roots and muck. “You just want to skim the surface lightly, take off the top layer. You don’t want to know what’s beneath that.” He motions with his hands and shakes his head slightly. “It gets messy if you go too deep, makes for a lot of extra work.”

“That’s true of life in general and people in particular” I muse.

He chuckles in agreement and walks away.

I ponder his advice, take a breath and continue to dig deep.