I'd planned write bills first thing this morning. Fortunately, I went outside to get the paper first. Even though I walk past my overgrown flower bed several times a day, I knew that this morning was the time to spend a few minutes clearing the weeds. The morning was so beautiful that I just couldn't resist spending a few minutes enjoying the weather and doing something that needed to be done.
Before I started, the flower bed looked like this:
Although it's not obvious from the picture, some of the weeds had dainty little flowers on them. To be honest, if they'd been in a flower pot, I wouldn't have known they were weeds. The more I thought about that, the more disturbing the thought became. That's because I began to wonder what other things in my life look pretty, and harmless, on the surface, but really aren't?
According to Wikipedia, a weed is generic term used to describe a plant that is deemed to be a nuisance because it grows in places where it is unwanted, such as gardens or lawns. Widipedia goes on to say that
"Weeds may be unwanted for a number of reasons: they might be unsightly, or crowd out or restrict light to more desirable plants or use limited nutrients from the soil. They can harbor and spread plant pathogens that infect and degrade the quality of crop or horticultural plants. Some weeds are a nuisance because they have thorns or prickles, some have chemicals that cause skin irritation or are hazardous if eaten, or have parts that come off and attach to fur or clothes."
Wow!
After about 20 minutes, my flowerbed looked like this:
Yes, it still needs a lot of work, and yes, I'd really like to replace the ugly shredded bark that my Dad likes to use for mulch. But the point is that now that I understand the consequences of weeds, I'm glad I removed them. More importantly, now I need to start looking for the other types of weeds in my life and root them out as well.
