You know those people who tear up at the sight of the flag, or at the appearance of an honor guard or flyover? I have that reaction every single Tuesday, when we kick off the meeting part of Rotary. I'm not sure whether that makes me overly emotional, or nerdy, or what. But the very first thing we do is stand up and recite the Four-Way Test: "Of the things we think, say, or do, is it the Truth? Is it Fair to all concerned? Will it build Good Will and Better Friendships? Will it be Beneficial to all concerned?" I am not kidding, every single time I say it, hear it, or even think it, I get chills. This is the credo that I have been waiting my entire life to learn. I have not always applied it before every sentence I've spoken, but I have certainly beat myself up after the fact if I failed to meet those standards. I've gotten upset with others who made assumptions that couldn't pass that test, and tried to reframe certain situations in a more equitable light. Every time I stand up in that meeting and say those words, I commit to them all over again. I welcome anyone to challenge me if I'm caught not living up to them.
I pushed myself hard today. I didn't mean to. I tried to take the morning to relax, but work and life kept intruding. I intended to rest halfway through the afternoon, to guarantee that I'd have the energy to make it all the way through the day. Instead of a nap, I had to run to Boulder and back, stopping off to buy more pieces of the garden on the way home. We needed a couple trellises and a way to contain a coiled garden hose (ended up with a bronze pot instead of a reel). This being us, we also snagged a large pink carnation and a big spirea bush. We were working on getting a few things planted when weather blew in, and most of the potted plants from the garage and recent purchases are still waiting to be put in the ground. One more of the lilacs has a permanent home, and we have blocked off the spaces where we will pull up the grass and make shrub beds. I need something to block engine noise from that busy street. (Although there was a cop parked a couple houses up this afternoon, to catch speeders, so maybe I'll get a little relief from the zooming car engines that way too.)
Not all of my new flowers and shrubs are going to be planted right away. There are weather models that suggest that we could be looking at a ridiculous amount of snow this weekend. Weather Channel still says only a tiny chance of snow for our part of the county, with a ton of rain instead. I may need to test whether draping some plastic drop cloths over the tender new flowers will be enough to insulate them from cold. I'm sure I'll be ferrying the potted plants back into the garage ahead of that day too. We have plenty of time to wait for the computer models to tell us whether the weather will turn against us. It would be a shame to lose the beautiful flowers that are starting to come up. Everything is finally blooming. It just wouldn't be fair to cover it with two to four feet of snow. (You heard me.)
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