You're Being Put on Notice
Humans notice what they want to notice, though
each has their own focus.
Birds?
What birds?: A man enjoys a vacation
in France, even taking the TGV from north to south. He reports to his friend, a
birder, how much he enjoyed the trip and how much he saw. The friend asks, “Did
you see any birds?” The man shrugs, “No.” The birder's eyes pop. “You traveled
through a whole country and didn't even see one bird?” The reply, “No.” Of
course he saw many birds, but didn't notice them or remember
them.
Lawn?
What lawn?: One day I showed a
co-worker a photo of some of my azaleas taken in the back yard. Expecting
perfunctory compliments, I was floored when he simply said, “Don't you ever mow
your lawn?” I hadn't even noticed I had a lawn. At least, not in
that picture. My yard-life is dominated by the care of azaleas and some other
flowering plants. A lawn? I sort of remember mowing the lawn occasionally, I
think. The area of the yard others call a “lawn” is, for me, a collection of
low, herbaceous green stuff: clover, plantain, crabgrass, Stiltgrass,
dandelion, Creeping Charlie and the like. They're green. I'm fine with green.
My standard line is: “When the weeds in my yard green-up, it must be spring.”
 |
| Did you notice the Ground Orchid flowers? Don't look at the ground. |
Bushes?
What bushes?: Which brings me to an
event last summer. A micro-burst had taken down a couple of large branches of
Red Maples (note to self: don't ever plant such brittle, short-lived
specimens!) The branches missed most of the azaleas, but were too big for my
handsaw, so I called a tree service, and they came the next day. I had them
take down a few small, dead branches from some oaks in the front yard, too, and
they were done in an hour. They showed they were a complete service team by
using a leaf blower to clean the lawn of debris, which was too small to bother
picking up by hand. Where did this debris go? Yes, you got it on the first try!
All over the azaleas, leaving them covered with “leavings,” leaving a clean
lawn, and leaving me to pry off the leaves and other debris from my favorite
plants. I'm sure they were sure homeowners would appreciate their
cleanliness. I'm sure, on average, they were right, as they noticed the
lawn and ignored the bushes.
Bushes
are for workers to empty excess paint behind, drape hoses and tools over, and
hide other activities that would/should never be noticed by the homeowners.
I've
noticed that almost every hobby can be lonely.
I've
noticed that maintaining a large garden is a lot of work, not 100% successful
as winds, rains, droughts, bugs, branches, and maintenance workers torture it.
I've
noticed that other people don't notice what I notice, though their variety make
the world more interesting. I'll give the universe a pass on that!
