Barefoot Weeding

It's been another tiring day, heavy on the hand weeding. There's been a fall-feeling breeze and temperatures have been nice and comfortable. Showers sprinkled us this morning but as the sun warms up the day, my galoshes got a little toasty. Yesterday, my experienced co-worker showed me that weeding on your hands and knees, when the soil beneath you is damp and cool, is best done barefoot. So the last couple days I have been exposing my feet to the elements and it felt good.

Sometimes it's a wonderful feeling to know that there is nothing better than bare skin.

And lots of the time we're lucky to have shoes (not everyone does....) My flops these days are a mismatched pair (one lost, one broken, luckily they were of the opposite feet and voila!) I think that normally we are urged to throw these functional shoes out--but I'd like us all to re-think our aesthetic. Think about the most beautiful landscapes you can, and then think about the landfills. If we can use and REUSE our things as long as we possibly can, and REDUCE our consumption. And then RECYCLE them, then, and finally then as a very last, very admirable resort--we can all make a big difference --ourselves and especially together. I feel that we all recycle and it makes us feel good, as it should, but it doesn't outweigh the effects of our consumption and what we all really need to do is purchase fewer new goods--if you need something, maybe you already have it somewhere or you can borrow from a friend or, purchase it second hand--it's smart, builds relationships and saves money! Pretty wonderful stuff, right?

The moon is up there--and it's so bright for us

--we need do what we can to watch over all that it does in all the ways that we can.

Cool breezes are bringing the slightest hints of fall already and flower beds are changing too.

and this evening I spotted a chair, in the front yard under a tree, a shady spot to sit under a soft rustle.... or maybe a boost into a climbing tree. Either way, I love that this life was taken slow enough to indulge in enjoying a summer breeze ...up above in the branches or just below, toes in the grass.