“You Mean It’s Not ‘All About Me’?”
Somehow, Brian Wilson‘s lyrics make more sense to me as I get older. Whenever I start to monopolize a conversation, I begin to hear some of those lyrics plus some other quotes from my working days. A couple of favorites come to mind:
“Well, I guess I should’ve kept my mouth shut when I started to brag about my car ….”
–Brian Wilson, Don’t Worry, Baby
and
“So … that’s your take on it — is it, Bill?”
-Unnamed executive
Weed-Whackers Unite!
“Captain, there be weeds here!”
But, I guess it still doesn’t stop me from pontificating at times. And this morning, I found myself wondering if I should’ve kept my mouth shut when I started to talk about … weed-whacking.
I love my friend, Susan. Her husband, Mike and I can have a conversation about just about anything — including weed-whacking!
You see, here in Arizona after the monsoon season is in full swing, we take our weed-whacking a bit seriously. Suddenly, the streets are lined with wildflowers and weeds. And just as suddenly last week, all conversations turned to the disposition of weeds:
My neighbor:
“Well, I’d better go borrow-back my weed-whacker from the fire station … I should really get rid of these weeds before they go to seed. I may be a little late already!”
Mike (anticipatory expression waning):
“Oh, you only have an electric weed-whacker? I need to borrow a gas-powered one.”
Sears Salesman:
“Oh, you have the bump-fed electric one? And it works for you???”
My other neighbor:
(The whirring of a powerful weed-whacker 50 yards in the distance).
Choices
Before moving to Arizona, I had no idea that there were so many choices and decisions concerning this whacking business. I am just a simple city-boy. To get the job done right, one must consider a number of inter-related options, including but not limited to:
- Electric, Battery or Gasoline-Powered;
- String Gauge;
- Bump or automatic string feed;
- etc, etc etc.
Whacker-envy
A Case of Whacker-Envy
I have to admit that after hearing the familiar whirring sound next door earlier this week, I had looked on the resulting absence of weeds with envy. And, I was further humbled when I compared my neighbor’s whacker to my own.
His was clearly bigger — much bigger! Just look at that fat red string — clearly more stout than my consumer-grade blue! And his results were equally more handsome!
A Bit of Perspective?
All of what I have just told you, I was sharing with Mike when Susan without solicitation and unexpectedly interjected under her breath into the conversation the quote in the title of this blog entry:
“Just listen to what your life has come to!”
Of course, an emergency room nurse might well take that point of view with impunity, I consoled myself.
Upon Some Cogent Reflection
And — who knows — I might think longer and deeper about the implications and merits of Susan’s observations on the state of my life … but I really need to whack my weeds before they go to seed!
‘Susan’ at Breakfast
Postscript
Now, some months later, I must be an experienced [weed] whacker, because I am so confident that I cannot hesitate to volunteer to help out anywhere. Here, three whackers survey their recent accomplishments with pride:
Weed whackers surveying their ample accomplishments
(I wish that I could say more about the boots being an Arizona fashion statement, but no need to reenforce the obvious).
Bill Leyden's Photog Blog 