Dear Reader Column 02-23-06

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Dear Reader,

Friday nights at 10 o'clock, my TiVo is recording the show "Monk." Have you seen it? Monk is a detective with an obsessive-compulsive disorder--everything has to be tidy, and lined up perfectly before he can relax or attend to his work, which is usually solving a "who-dun-it" murder.

I confess there's a little bit of Monk in me.

When I sat down in my lawn chair yesterday, it was supposed to be a 20 minute relaxing break in the sun. (Remember I live in Florida.) Kicked off my shoes, was admiring my flower gardens--I'd planted some impatiens last week and they were in full bloom. The colors were beautiful. Ah, this is the life.

But then I got a little "Monkish" and I noticed some weeds in between those impatiens, and then I noticed the three chairs next to me were covered with leaves, and the patio table beside the chairs was dusty and dirty--in desperate need of a bottle of Windex--and oh dear, I'd forgotten to mulch a section of my flower gardens, and all of these revelations were now driving me crazy.

My first urge was to get up and start working on these travesties before anyone else noticed them. What would people think if they saw weeds in my garden and leaves on my chairs? But I quickly got a grip on reality, and determined to relax, I decided to try the out-of-sight, out-of-mind approach and I laid all the way back in my chair and only looked up.

And it worked. I wasn't reminded of any of the "untidies" around my yard because I couldn't see them. Instead I was looking up at the clouds. I even spotted one of those long white jet streaks going across the sky. And I was entertained by two birds gliding and weaving back and forth in a game of tag. How can they even fly that high?

But oh my, look at that. The oak tree needs pruning. There's a vine growing up the side of the house, it's going to cross over the window pretty soon. I should get up right now and pull it down.

Yep, no doubt about it, why fight it? There's definitely a little bit of Monk in me.

Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com
http://www.DearReader.com

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