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Somehow, summer time keeps me thinking about the outdoors. We just got back from a trip to Wisconsin, including a trip to the North Shore and the Porcupines in Michigan. The scenery was wonderful, and the fishing netted some nice size fish to release. But my main memory is of ticks...and more ticks. On one day, we cleaned over fifty ticks from my sister after a hike in the meadows and woods.
I am personally grossed out by ticks. That word makes me itchy and I suddenly feel little legs crawling over my body. I removed my first deer tick on Saturday...and it latched on at our house! Yikes. I forgot to mention that my sister had Lyme's disease when we arrived.
Of course, I headed to the web to research ticks and organic ways of getting rid of them. There are all sorts of chemical sprays for your lawn, of course. Which kill a lot of things besides ticks, I am sure. But the one method that intrigued me was the use of cedar mulch. Supposedly, cedar repels ticks. It might be worth investing in some cedar chips wherever the flower garden is next to a meadow or weed site. They also suggest keeping the wild critters out of the yard, with no feeding stations for birds or squirrels. Interestingly enough, there are very few animals that eat ticks for food.
Next issue: weeds. I had a neighbor deliberately grew some thistle in his yard to attract butterflies. (We are talking here about the right kind of thistle, not that sneaky creeping Canadian stuff that takes over your flowerbeds and garden.) My sister says to not do that as they spread, but I would rather take a chance. I also like mullein or the Joe Pye weed, or milkweed. I once sacrificed a whole crop of dill to keep a monarch butterfly caterpillar alive. I find I enjoy the weeds for butterflies most out in the fields, not in my very small garden! Here is a good website if you want to know what attracts butterflies at your place: http://butterflywebsite.com/butterflygardening.cfm I reflected on the fact that objects have both good and bad sides, just like our own characters. What is talkativeness can also be perceived as someone who very friendly. Shy people are often considered snobs, since they don't enter the conversation. I realized I have to keep seeing how the parts of my personality can be both helpful and not helpful. It can be a weed or grown a butterfly.
As I weeded after we got home,I could see all the competition. I am trying to let the English ivy be a ground cover, but the honeysuckle and wild mustard try very hard to keep it shaded so it can't grow. The orange day lilies want to take over the place. How do we find a balance in our lives so that we actually cultivate what we want to see flourish? That means taking out the time wasters, and emphasizing the healthy habits.
Yesterday, I was talking with my other sister about some decisions her church faces and that she personally faces. Both are opportunities to do good things. Should they be undertaken? I realized that the question is not whether or not they were good or bad things. The question is the price that will be paid to do them. If I do this, what will now go undone? What is lost for this new activity? Every door we open usually closes another door. I want to walk more...so what in my schedule will go to make room for that? If you take on a new job, add a new video game, start a project, take a class or volunteer....What will now be leaving to give you the time for that? What do you want to flourish...or be overshadowed by other activities? |
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