How Much Else Have I Missed?

Yesterday morning I headed out to mulch a section of our yard that has crepe myrtles. This was a project I really wanted to finish. I had worked on it Saturday and wanted to wrap it up Sunday. Between the two days I probably spent at least two hours in that area. My eyes were on the ground and the pickup truck; take a bag of mulch from the truck and spread it on the ground, take a bag from the truck and spread it on the ground…you get the idea. After completing the project I returned to the house for a break.

An hour or so later I returned to that area of the yard with Vickie. She wanted me to help her clean up a perennial bed. I provide the labor and she provides the direction. Well, not really. I provide the labor when we need to use heavy tools to prune or remove plants – she puts in a lot of “smart” labor in terms of cleaning around plants so that they aren’t damaged.

We had only been out in the area for a few minutes when she said, “Isn’t the rose bush pretty?” At first I didn’t hear her (what else is new), but then I looked up from my focus on the ground and saw the rose bush which grows over the entrance to our vegetable garden (photo below). Yes, it was indeed pretty. I was ashamed to tell her that I hadn’t noticed it, ashamed to think that I had been out there two days in a row but that I was so focused on the task at hand that I hadn’t seen the beauty of the roses.

Later in the day, as I pondered the rose bush, I wondered what else I miss when I get so focused on the task at hand, when my eyes are on the ground. It may be a cliché when someone says, “Stop and smell the roses,” but it is no joke.