Planting a Garden
It's always strange bringing up the past when I'm speaking with my children. As a child, you just don't believe or understand that your Mom and Dad were once just mere children.
"What were you like in high school?" Sam asked, sort of out of nowhere.
"Women loved me and men feared me," I said.
My wife rolled her eyes, Sam laughed, and Jake deadpanned, "You sure that wasn't the other way around?"
Eventually I told them a little about being a kid, and since it was fresh in my mind, I told them how it was to plant the garden each year. My father would be directing the traffic and my brothers and I would be sweating, swearing under our breath, and hating every plant that went into the ground. The only redeeming factor being that we loved the veggies that came from such work.
The reason it was fresh in my mind was because on Saturday morning, I helped my Dad plant his garden. It was just my Dad and I. He had about seventy plants, and this time, he was swearing - and it wasn't under his breath.
"I don't know why I need a garden," he complained the whole time. "I'm too old for this, but your mother wants me to plant it. I can buy bushels of produce, but I need a garden. I can't even bend over anymore."
Yet he wasn't bending over - I was - and let me tell you - it is different. I was sore. Planting the garden sounded like this:
Dad: Uh, uh, uh, uh(As he strained to catch his breath).
Me: Ow, ow, ow, ow (As I settled into position to place a plant in the ground).
All of the plantings of the past came rushing to me - just last year there had been three brothers there - each with beer in hand, laughing at the way Dad directed traffic; and making fun of one another.
After a couple of hours, the plants were in. My father seemed neither encouraged or terribly excited by the work. He told me a story about when I was a kid and I couldn't help but repeat my exchange with Jake.
"Yeah," he said, "That's a good one - women adored you and men feared you - you were afraid of your own shadow."
So, the lesson I suppose is that when you're planting a garden and talking about the past, it's a good idea to keep your children away from your parents or your lies may be exposed.
"What were you like in high school?" Sam asked, sort of out of nowhere.
"Women loved me and men feared me," I said.
My wife rolled her eyes, Sam laughed, and Jake deadpanned, "You sure that wasn't the other way around?"
Eventually I told them a little about being a kid, and since it was fresh in my mind, I told them how it was to plant the garden each year. My father would be directing the traffic and my brothers and I would be sweating, swearing under our breath, and hating every plant that went into the ground. The only redeeming factor being that we loved the veggies that came from such work.
The reason it was fresh in my mind was because on Saturday morning, I helped my Dad plant his garden. It was just my Dad and I. He had about seventy plants, and this time, he was swearing - and it wasn't under his breath.
"I don't know why I need a garden," he complained the whole time. "I'm too old for this, but your mother wants me to plant it. I can buy bushels of produce, but I need a garden. I can't even bend over anymore."
Yet he wasn't bending over - I was - and let me tell you - it is different. I was sore. Planting the garden sounded like this:
Dad: Uh, uh, uh, uh(As he strained to catch his breath).
Me: Ow, ow, ow, ow (As I settled into position to place a plant in the ground).
All of the plantings of the past came rushing to me - just last year there had been three brothers there - each with beer in hand, laughing at the way Dad directed traffic; and making fun of one another.
After a couple of hours, the plants were in. My father seemed neither encouraged or terribly excited by the work. He told me a story about when I was a kid and I couldn't help but repeat my exchange with Jake.
"Yeah," he said, "That's a good one - women adored you and men feared you - you were afraid of your own shadow."
So, the lesson I suppose is that when you're planting a garden and talking about the past, it's a good idea to keep your children away from your parents or your lies may be exposed.
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