As I strolled through the garden today, I couldn't help noticing how much wilder it is than last year. The biggest reason is that I'm spending all my yard time in the back of the house where the high grass grows. I'm making progress there, but it's a struggle that won't be over before I leave for vacation. In fact, I'll have to put in as much extra time on the weeds as I do on all my work duties, just to be sure I can leave with a clear conscience.

It's not easy to find time on these hot summer days, because, well, it's hot. It may not be quite summer yet, but it's hot like that. In the daytime it's hot, and at night it's dark. That leaves early morning, which if I'm lucky I never see, and late afternoon, when if I'm lucky there's a ballgame to watch. What's a person to do?

More than once I've given up watching part of the game to spend time in the yard. I like baseball on the radio, and sometimes it's better that way, depending on who the announcers are. My team has a good broadcast crew, and when their games are on the network I'll usually turn the TV sound off and listen to the radio. So it's not much of a stretch to haul the boom box out into the yard.

Last year when the weeds were under stricter control, I had time to fine tune the garden. It almost amazes me now that I could get down on my hands and knees and pull up the stuff growing between the paving stones. It amazes me because I can't do that this year. It's a waste of valuable time. So the stones are overgrown, and the whole garden is as wild as it's been since I've lived here.

I've decided I don't mind the wildness. I want to clear out anything that poses a fire danger in the dry season we're just getting into, but the rest of it doesn't bother me. If I could apply that attitude to more areas of my life, I'd be a more content person. For once, I've come to terms with the fact that I can't do everything at once. Also, I live in the wilderness, and that's okay.

My house is kind of a pigsty, and that's not okay. But it can wait until after I get back from vacation, and caught up on everything else. And then it can probably wait a little longer yet.

Oh, no. I didn't work outside today, so I'll have to make it up tomorrow. It'll be easier, because the Giants play an early game. One thing I won't allow is the yard waste container not being filled on pick-up day. That means that no matter what, I have to go out tomorrow afternoon and work for at least a half hour in the high grass. If you don't hear from me, assume I was sucked into a gopher hole.