Tag: poison ivy

What Are Weeds?

Jennifred Jones

A non-useful plant. Some weeds have attractive flowers, but they’ll take over your landscape if you allow them.

Consider the wild morning glory vine. Pretty, small white or pink flowers shaped like a phonograph bell speaker. If they get a foothold, it can take several seasons to pull them out while they climb and strangle whatever they entwine themselves around. Other weeds have underground root systems – sneakily popping up far away from the original spot. They can be hard to eliminate – think poison ivy vines. Invasive crabgrass will crowd out a bright green lawn as its non-stop-growing stems root anywhere they touch the ground. The bright colored yellow dandelion soon becomes a lollipop of seeds blowing everywhere.

We each need to take stock of what is a profitable flower growing in the landscape of our thoughts, and which are invasive weeds sown in our minds and hearts to bring us down.

Seeds of all kinds fly through the air, by wind, on birds and animals, what we watch and listen to, who we hang around. We have to decide if it is a weed seed growing in our mind or a flower seed of something useful.

When any seed takes root, it’s small and easy to pull before it causes damage. So let’s tend our mental garden often and keep unwanted weeds from getting started.

First Things First

Jennifred Jones

Today when I woke up it was rainy and gloomy, but I woke up today. My Dad said, as his birthdays climbed into their 70’s and 80’s, that he was not afraid to add another birthday. It meant he was still alive and could enjoy his family; he could still do work and do things for other people.

So, sitting from the porch swing, what do we see that we are grateful for? Well, I have a bench and a porch and I can go outside. I can see the green grass…forget that it might need to be mowed and there are weeds in my gravel driveway… just enjoy the color and that it’s not negative 18 outside. I can see the neighbors, much older than I, out mowing their grass, I probably should be mowing it for them, but I know they like to do some form of exercise to stay agile. She had a lot of poison ivy growing up her tree and I haven’t had to fight with that at my place. (I did go over and spray hers so it is gone) I have a nice concrete porch and hers is wood and that means more maintenance. True mine has cracks in it, but that’s OK, it’s old but it’s not caving in.

Her sidewalk is all bunched up because the two huge maple trees between it and the street have pushed it out of shape, but those two trees completely shade my house most of the day, and the neighbor kids have so much fun ramping their bikes over her bumpy sidewalk. One brave skate boarder gave a shot at it too! I get to hear the kids laughing and playing all summer, and it reminds me of mine when they were small. I should make the kids some cookies. Sometimes the parents come with them. I’ve met many neighbors just being outside and saying, ‘Hi’ as they walk by. Yes, we have a good neighborhood. We’re getting to know each other and that brings stability to the community.