Never complain, never explain.
If you don't like the way things are, change them,
and if you're not willing to change them
then don't complain.
~ Henry Ford
Henry sounds like a stern old grandmother, doesn't he? But those stern old grandmothers carried and shared a lot of wisdom, often when you least expected it.
You'd think when you complained to someone (especially your grandmother), you'd get a little sympathy, or at least a little helpful advice, right? None of this "never complain, never explain" nonsense. How unhelpful is that?
The things I've been complaining about lately have an end date, thank goodness, and I'm not really complaining. I've been, um, busy with the produce: picking, canning, freezing, cooking, and otherwise using or storing the fruits and vegetables of my spring and summer labor. I love it! I stopped at the grocery last night and was completely underwhelmed by what I saw; my pantry and freezer look so much better to me than what you can buy at the market.
I did bend a little and picked up a couple bags of tortilla chips. I made and canned some salsa, and we're having company this weekend. Might as well serve it, rather than just look at it sitting on the shelf. Chips are almost never on my grocery list. At least I bought the good kind: Garden of Eatin' Blue and Black Bean varieties.
But I'm looking forward to that end date, the day the garden gets put to bed for the winter. At that point, the garlic will be planted and heavily mulched with straw and the rest of the space will be cleared of the detritus of dried cornstalks and a fairly good crop of purslane. (What does it say about my soil that purslane grows so well in it?)
My friend Elora calls this time of year "garden fatigue," and she's absolutely right. It's not that there's so much physical work to do in the dirt, but there's a lot of work to do taking care of the harvest and, frankly, sometimes you'd just like to run through a drive-thru and get your dinner in a bag. Well, she wouldn't, but I'm tempted!
I'm not even going to try to bring this post around to weight loss or fitness or getting in shape. I've nothing to complain about in that department. I've come to accept the fact that if I stay busy I don't eat as much, and if I don't eat as much I'll s-l-o-o-o-w-l-y drop about a pound a month.
And believe me, I've been busy!
4 comments:
Henry Ford was batsh*t crazy and apparently a rather horrible person. The more I know about him, the less likely I am to take his advice!
I understand the garden fatigue. I'm not growing vegetables, but this is the time of year when I let the yard go because it's too darned hot and I'm tired of it.
I didn't Henry was crazy. However, I like myself better when I don't complain and don't explain. Doing is better than talking about doing or complaining about not doing. Or something like that.
Oops, I meant I didn't KNOW Henry was crazy. Grrr. I hate when that happens.
Yanno, our posts don't have to be about weight loss. That's not why I read the ones I follow. I care about the people and am interested in how they live their lives - what you like to do, what fills your time, frustrations and satisfactions. Some of that will come from body/weight stuff but we're whole people!
Your garden is huge and supplies you with tons of yummy healthy beautiful produce. You enjoy the gardening, the harvesting, and the eating :) But garden fatigue makes a lot of sense.
I bet your homemade salsa with those tortilla chips was wonderful and a nice treat to enjoy with your friends.
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