I went out at 11 with my mom to help her rake and bag up leaves - that took us three hours. She had a mound out there that she had been creating - and some of that mound consisted of leaves from last year. At first, it was an enjoyable activity. She would rake and I would bag. We talked about various things... mainly our trip. But after a couple hours, my back began to hurt and a blister began to form on my finger. Not to mention it was overcast, cool, and drizzly. I began to run out of energy because I'm not an active person.
But you know what? I tried enjoying it. I thought about the whole "experience" thing and realized I hadn't raked/bagged leaves before (we never had to at previous homes). Plus, I didn't want to give up on my mom. It's a tough job for one person... and all the leaves aren't even down yet.
I felt bad though. The mound had been home to a lot of little creatures... roaches, spiders, ants, roly polies, beetles, earwigs, etc. We disturbed a lot of them and pretty much ruined their home. That mound probably kept them warm, too. The bottom layers were decomposing, so a lot of those creatures were feasting on that decomposition.. it was fascinating to see all that in action. My mom even joked: "It's like you're on a field trip."
While I was out there, I was tempted to go barefoot. I was wearing sandals because I didn't want my good shoes to get icky, but I felt like the earth was inviting me to step upon her surface.. I would have if A.) there wasn't all sorts of branches and other sharp objects to step on, and B.) we weren't dealing with decomposing leaves. I didn't exactly want to trample spiders (some of them were big) and roly polies with my bare feet.
It got me thinking, though. It's a shame that we, as humans, see nature as repulsive or "dirty." My mom was complaining about the bugs and the mud, but if anything, bugs and mud are a lot better for us than chemicals, concrete, and tar. "Civilization" has bred us into creatures bearing soap and disinfectant.. we hide away in our bleached homes because we no longer favor dirt. Hell - we even complain about nature now. My mom's a good example. She complains about the leaves, the bugs, the spiders taking over the house, the "outside smell" clinging to her skin and hair, the mud, the heat, the cold.
God. I'm so humiliated by humanity. And what's worse is that because I was raised into it, I'm somewhat the same way. I mean, when I was younger, I played a lot outside.. rolled in the grass, played in the dirt, played at the lagoon (this was Hawaii), rode my bike, hung out at the local playground(s), etc. But as I grew older - and more introverted - I shied away from nature and merely admired it through the window from behind my computer.
But I don't complain about much. I don't care about the leaves, or the bugs (except roaches and mosquitoes... I mean, at least roaches play an important role in nature, but what do mosquitoes do? Drain you of your blood and threaten you with disease?) .. I don't care about "outside smell" or mud so long as I'm not tracking it through the car or house (because it's annoying to get out of carpet). I do complain about the cold though, because my thin skin and crappy circulation can't handle it all that well. Sometimes the heat if it gets to be too much with the humidity around here.
Sheesh. We used to live in harmony with nature... I really do hope things change. It reminds me of something my mom said outside. We were talking about diet and processed food, and she mentioned that we were supposed to be eating off the land. It made me happy to hear that from her, because my mom is kind of a... sheep. Not a total sheep, but enough of a sheep to qualify as one. I figured she would think something along the lines of "well, processed food lasts longer, is cheaper, and can be bought in abundance, so it's good to have around."
Ahh. Anyway... we packed twenty bags full of leaves. And that was only the front yard. Fortunately, we don't have a "backyard," per se. More like a driveway, a separated garage, a "parking pad," and a sliver of yard off to the side. Still collects a lot of leaves, though. Afterward, I came in and went straight to cleaning my bathroom, which was nice because I haven't cleaned it in ages. I get lazy when I'm the only one using it. Haha.
I have 6 readings left to finish; I think I might try to do one right now and then save the rest to work on after Saturday, when I get home from our trip. I also got a message from Lily, who gave me feedback for a SC portrait I did for her a while back. I don't often get feedback for readings I did months ago... it's always nice to see how things actually unfold, and if I was accurate or not. For this one, I was. *Pats self on back*
So yeah - gonna do a reading, and then will sit behind some Sims for the remainder of the evening.
Evaah
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