Sunday, October 09, 2005

Therapy

There's something about this time of year that makes me feel like gardening a little more than I normally do. Perhaps the trigger for my sudden urge to garden was filling up a couple of holes the dog worked on in my back yard, IN THE MIDDLE OF MY LAWN... Since I live in Southern California, we usually do not have really extreme weather, so the gardening center and nursery are open all year long. I hit up Home Depot's gardening center and came away with new pruning shears, a couple of bromeliads, a ginger plant with a beautiful purple bloom, 3-6 packs of red dianthus, potting soil, and a new sprinkler head. There's something very therapeutic about digging in the dirt, well - for me... I can't explain it. Perhaps gardening evokes happy childhood memories of playing in my grandparent's abundant garden, and that they let us get play in the dirt, help them "harvest" green beans, squash, tomatoes, corn, oranges, and other vegetables and fruits. I musn't forget the added bonus to gardening, especially when planting several small plants -- it's like getting a hamstring workout in without putting much thought into it.

I've been keeping a consistent running base of about 12 to 15 miles/week. There's 5k run event in November on Shelter Island that Michael and I might consider. Someone asked me when I was planning on running my next marathon. (Key word "WHEN.") I may consider the San Diego Rock N Roll Marathon again for 2006, but that might be it. I think if I limit myself to one marathon per year then I will be okay... I sort of have the half marathon idea in the back of my head, but maybe in the course of training for the marathon. I really should start looking ahead.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I know exactly what you mean by gardening being therapeutic. I love spending time outdoors playing in the dirt. My grandparents lived on a farm and I have fond memories of picking veggies, running through the fields in my bare feet and stepping in cow poop.

The best part of course was eating the fabulous dinner my grandma cooked...yummy!

Angie

Irene said...

Angie,
I'll get the gardeining bug, but then it sort of fizzles...I kind of wish it would stick so I'd have one of those yards you see on Better Homes and Gardens... LOL!
~Irene

Anonymous said...

I know what you mean. Same thing happens to me from time to time. We've had such a problem with mosquitos here and that makes it really annoying to stay outdoors for any length of time.

As for BHG, I could go for one of those yards or homes too!

Angie

Irene said...

Angie,
Most of those people who have BHG yards also have gardeners who do more than just mow the lawn... I don't see that happening anytime soon! ;)