We Can Do Hard Things
I realized something today. I’ve realized this before, and today the thought, the realization, got a frame. It’s hanging on my wall now.
How I got here, to my framed realization, came from the last eight weeks of putting a garden together from scratch. The dream machine is my $89 electric rototiller. She is a beast, a beast I could control. I tilled 242 sq feet of a crabby, weedy yard. It took five solid tills; after each till, I removed all the weed roots by hand. Two and a half contractor bags full of roots. This part took a bit over a month. I ended up with a solid 8-10 inches of clean soil, virtually weed- and rock-free. I felt giddy when I determined that the soil was good to go and that I could stop this part. I’ll admit it was grueling work, and I was so glad to be done. I still have to till the blueberry patch, that will be easy! A tiny patch.
Next part: purchase the required garden components and figure out what can be reused from around here. I had 100 feet of 36” wide fencing I could use for creating the tomato fences (an open-ended triangle) and arbor for the climbing beans and cucumbers. Got corrugated edging for the garden that goes 4 inches down and will help prevent root invasion. Got five-foot T-bars for the fencing, three bales of straw for mulch, a boatload of baby veggie plants, and two blueberry bushes—mycelium for the roots when planting, and fertilizer. I’m stoked; I’m ready to go.
I was fortunate to have gotten most of the tilling done before I mostly lost the use of my left wrist and so the hand as well. Now I’m working one-handed, using my left arm in various ways to get it all done. Measure, roll out the fencing, and cut the pieces. Not the easiest, but still doable. Attach the fencing with metal zip-ties. That was hard. It took me most of the day. It was dark, so that I couldn’t plant.
The next morning, I am raring to go. I skipped coffee and went out back in my last pair of quick-dry work clothes that weren’t mud-encrusted.
I had a blast. It took me the whole day to plant, and she got mostly planted. Herbs still need to go in. It was dark, too late to fertilize and mulch. The next day I will do that.
That night (last night), we got severe storm warnings with wind in excess of 70 mph. Sure enough, I’m watching out the window, and the trees are violently whipping about and bending in half. It was a wild storm. I figured the garden was kaput. But this morning I found it had survived very well. Plants were muddy since I hadn’t gotten the mulch down; I did that this morning: first some organic fertilizer, then the mulch. The garden is looking good!
I have a couple of issues, one with my spine (thoracic MRI was Tuesday) and my wrist, and I will visit a hand surgeon, the one my spine surgeon is sending me to. So, way too slow for impatient me, but my body will get fixed, and I will be so much nicer to myself. I overwork and push limits. Not a good trait. My father had this trait too.
And here we are at realization: this is one you get too; we can do hard things.
We can do hard things.
I put that garden together, and it was hard to do all by myself. But I did it, and now many people in my neighborhood will have some fresh vegetables this summer and fall. I will be canning, drying, freezing, and pickling; it will feed my small family all winter, and we can give gifts of preserved food to many. My CC team will all get boxes of goods this winter.
The impact of this work is far greater than the effort required to build it.
The impact of the work we are doing to save ourselves and our nation is far greater than the effort we are putting in. It sometimes seems many cannot see the forest for the trees. When we don’t see the bigger picture, we flounder and make bad decisions.
We are supremely capable of getting the task done that is ours to get done. So let’s do it. Let’s be courageous, let’s work together, and get it done.
We can do this because we are the champions of the world.
