Day 71—Somethings You Just Gotta Do

I don’t know Webster’s definition for “chore,” but to me a chore is something you have to do, you don’t enjoy doing it, and you need to do it over and over and over with minimal, if any, payoff: you make the bed and you get back in and mess it up a few hours later; you vacuum that carpet, nobody notices, and you’ve got to do it again next week; you clean that birdcage and the mess is back within minutes. You may have guessed that today’s challenge topic is “chore.” As onerous as most repetitive musts are, there is one chore that sometimes HAS a big payoff: Hand weeding. I try to avoid using harsh chemicals in my daily life (except in the case of my ant invasion-please refer to My Nightmare Post from Day 65). I hate to use Roundup or other poisons to kill weeds, so for me, hand weeding is my only option if I want to make my yard presentable. Lately, however, my yard has been a neighborhood embarrassment. The weeds are taking over my lawn, my rose bed, my planters, and my pots. Since I eschew the use of chemical weed controls, I am left with a chore that I truly despise and one that I avoid. But, weeding does have a positive side in improving the appearance of my yard and allowing other plants to flourish without having to compete with the weeds for water, space, and nutrients.

Today I noticed a huge dandelion in the lawn so I decided to eradicate it on camera as my depiction of a chore. While I was out there, I also saw the first freesia, my favorite spring flower, blooming profusely despite my neglect. I cut a small bouquet and brought it inside so its heady fragrance would remind me that there is a big payoff to this hated chore. Perhaps that will help get me out there to get rid of the rest of the weeds now that I’ve got a start on it. Oh, but wait, rain is predicted all next week. Darn, I guess I’ll have to wait a while to really “dig” into this chore.

Focal Length 85mm
ISO 280
f/1.8
1/2000
SOOC

Focal Length 85mm
ISO 800
f/1.8
1/1250
SOOC

And, an edited version of the freesias, in keeping with my new approach of allowing myself to edit my photos without feeling that I screwed up the photo. The edits are simple, adjusting levels and cropping.