January 15, 2010

I haven’t gardened much in the past two months. Although San Diego has only a pseudo winter, plant growth does slow, and I’ve found in December and January, I don’t have to beat back my neighbor’s vines on a near daily basis so they don’t engulf my palm trees. When I finally pulled on my gardening gloves the other day, I was surprised to discover weeds flourishing around my fruit trees. Last summer, I spent many sweaty days uprooting and conquering (I think) the crab grass in the same area. This weed is of a different variety and, being a newbie gardener, almost looks like ground cover. I have been fooled by other weeds before; especially ones that look like daffodils or iris’s in their newly sprouted state: tiny lime green spears poking through the dirt. The worst are the weeds camouflaged in the leaves of thriving bushes – sometimes I don’t catch those until they push their greedy heads out of hiding.
Those sneaky weeds and my lackadaisical gardening made me think of exercise. When I have a goal, a 5K, a half-marathon, climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro, I can be disciplined in exercising because I know if I don’t, I will pay the price. But it is all too easy to skip a walk or – even easier – a trip to the gym especially if it involves the stair master when the goal is simply general like staying in shape. And staying in shape falls away so quickly. I haven’t run since August. I could run 13.1 miles then. There is no way I could now. Work your butt off at the gym for a year, take off a few months, and it seems to all be gone when you return.
So it looks like I will need to stay more on top of those pesky weeds, even in the “colder” winter months. Maybe I should have the goal of a garden party to keep me motivated. =)