the yin and yang of gardening

 Last week I had a lively conversation with my friends. We were talking and laughing about the countless ways we have inflicted pain upon ourselves and been grossed-out, all  in the name of gardening.  It's what we refer to as "the dark side" of tending to our daylilies/flowers.  Here are a few of our collective experiences. You may smile and nod your head with familiarity. And P.S., I'm not admitting to any specific event as being my own. Smile.

• Pitchforks work great for lifting daylilies from the ground. They also are quite efficient at stabbing you in the leg. Thank you tetanus shot.
• Wheelbarrows are handy helpers...that can quickly turn into vehicles of destruction when you lose control of them while going down a hill.
• An unbalanced wheelbarrow=a bad thing. They inflict pain when they fall over on your leg/foot. The dirt and sharp tools inside just add insult to injury.
• Wire tomato cages are great for protecting new daylily plantings from deer. Just trip over them and see how much blood they can draw, especially the rusty ones. Again, thank you tetanus shot.
• Seeing a long handled claw tool (or garden rake) on the ground -- spikes up -- and mentally making note that you really need to turn it over so you don't step on it; getting distracted for a split second, turning around, stepping on the claw tool and WHOP! Stick-to-the-head.
• Here's a stroke of brilliance -- pulling on that ever-so-solid weed that finally gives way and you end up somersaulting backwards off a brick wall.
• How about taking that deep breath while digging, and getting a mouthful of dirt. (And feeling momentarily bad for mentally chastising someone you have recently seen spitting on the sidewalk...)
• You always wear garden gloves, right? But the *one* time you don't you get the stiff stalk of a weed jammed underneath your fingernail that swells up and takes weeks to be normal again.
• Burning nettle...enough said.
• Unexpectedly finding an underground bee nest, getting swarmed, and running for your life while simultaneously swearing.
• The nicety of clubbing your garden helper in the head with the handle of a shovel after they have so graciously offered to help you.
• Swatting a mosquito on your sweaty face, only to realize your garden glove is full of dirt. That usually happens right around the time a neighbor comes over to chat!
• And speaking of neighbors, there's the 'scare factor.' When you are deep in the gardening Zen-zone and someone comes up behind you and speaks. You jump up from your crouched position and scream, then they jump back and scream as well having been scared from scaring you.
• Accidentally shoveling a poor toad that has burrowed underground in the dirt - which makes for a no-good, horrible day!
• Getting a buzzing insect stuck inside your ear that refuses to come out.
  
• And finally, snorting and/or swallowing a wide variety of bugs. Routinely.

Gardening is just a little bit of yin and a whole bunch of yang. And that's why we still enjoy it!

Pictured above:  Daylily "Sharky's Revenge"