Soul therapy: To weed or not to weed

I had signed up to visit Mrs. P and help her with her physical therapy yesterday. Another Saturday morning were I was up and running by 8 am, just like them country folk.  I did not know Mrs. P at all. Never met her and didn't even know were she lived.  But it became one of those services where you come home feeling like: "who helped who here?" What a great lady.  I went home feeling like she gave me some soul therapy.

During my visit with her she informed me, in a very polite manner, that it would be wise to weed my garden.  Yes surrey!  A stranger from the west, told me to weed my garden.

We had been talking about how much I missed the green colors of Iceland.  I told her that my landlord here in AZ had sent someone over to weed my front yard and now there is nothing there except brown, fine sand.  I also told her that now every time the wind blows,  I'm afraid my front yard will end up in my living room.  I missed my weeds.

I asked her if it wouldn't be better to leave the weeds.  At least that gives a little color and keeps the sand in its place.  But no!  She had news for me.  The weeds ( and I still have a lot of them in my back yard) are "pretty", but they leave these little nasty stickers.  They stick to your clothes, carpet, furniture and hurt quiet a bit. This I did not know ( just like so many other things here in the wild west).
So I thought about how I have been sending my kids to school, through my back yard and through those nasty sticker weeds, at least twice a day.  Then I had one of those brief "bad mom" moments.

It also made me think of this summer and all my stuff I had to go through before I packed my life into boxes and store it for a year. So much junk and stuff.  Things I thought were necessary for my wellbeing and happiness. Things that I can not even recall now.  I have now lived almost two months in a foreign country and the only thing I brought with me is two suitcases per family member.  And thats fine. I feel like I have weeded my life. It's simple.

And on a even deeper note.  I wish I would have weeded my soul along time ago. There is so much stuff that I have carried with me for so long.  Not the "my parents should have raised me different" or "kids at school were so mean". No more like the garbage I bring to myself every single day. "You are not good enough", "you will never do this or that" or "forget that you will ever feel so good". Things like that.  Little sticker weeds that have bothered me for years and years.  Time to let go and let the sand blow and settle were it will.

So, a gentle reminder  - finish weeding my garden/life.  Thank you Mrs. P and I hope for more friends like her to tell me to weed my garden.

Just another day

"Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise" - Ben Franklin

Well, that would make me sickly, poor and stupid.

Let me tell you how Icelanders use their weekends.  And yes, I can pretty much declare that about 75% of the Icelandic population enjoy their weekends as follows:

• Sleep in till at least 9:30 am (never make a phone call to anybody before 10:00 am).  Most would love to sleep in till 11:00
• Linger around while eating toast and reading the newspaper (if just to see what sales or events to go to).
• Maybe do a chore or two.
• Make your way into town.  There you go to one of the sales/events you saw in the newspaper or just hang out at the Mall (Smáralind or Kringlan) or the flee market (Kolaportið).
• The day would then end with dinner at moms house or hanging in front of the TV.  If you are a little on the wild side you make sure to stay up way past midnight.

But here in Arizona, country folk start their weekends early, just like any other day.  

I was so not prepared our first Saturday here.  I had been told that there would be a yard sale in town that would also be a fundraiser.  I was excited to go. Yard sales are not to be found in Iceland.  That would definitely be something to check out. But little did I know that it meant I had to be up and running at 7:30 am. What? In Iceland I'm barely up at that time on a weekday. 

All good yard sale going folk show up early.  I'm not good yard sale going folk so I ended up showing up "late." Everyone in town was already there (kids and teenagers also) and all the good stuff was gone.  

How does the saying go again? "The early bird get the worm."  Well I guess me and my family have been living to long by the saying "The second mouse gets the cheese."  

Learning to wake up early has been a new years resolution of mine for many years.  I would say this is the time for change.  And my country friends and fellow town habitants are helping me out with that.

Today is just another Saturday and therefore I am up and running by 6:00 am.  How about that?

My daughter A has cheerleading practice at 7:00 am. My other daughter Y has a football game at 8:00 am and my 17 year old son D is still sleeping away all the good daylight like a true Icelander.

I hope to get more out of rising early than just being up before somebody knocks on my door.  

I hope to be able to:

• Be more prepared and ahead of the days chores. Surprisingly enough rushing and being late is more tiring than getting up at 6:00. 
• I would like to hear my thoughts and know my schedule.
• Get my yoga done before the day has past and energy levels are down.  I've notice that then I make up excuses more easily.
• Eat a healthy breakfast. 
• Get spiritually nourished.
• Enjoy a sunrise or two.

So while D is still sleeping my country friends have already milked their cows,

cooked a warm breakfast, 

fed the animals, mowed the lawn and 

even made a phone call or a visit to good neighbor. 

Don't let the sun catch you sleeping.

Hard work and play - are often the same thing

One of the first things I have learned here in Arizona, is that when country folk work they are actually playing and vice versa.  Yeah, so you are thinking: "Ok, cowboys love their work. I can see that. But, no! Playing can never be work".  Well, I beg to differ and say that it is true!

Let me give you just one example!

Yesterday a family invited us Icelanders for an afternoon at the "Cracks".

A crack in the middle of the road

A hidden gem of red and cream colored rocks in the middle of nowhere.  Really! Driving there the landscape looked flat and bare, with nothing but sagebrush.  It had been raining for two days, which is unusual for this area. Well, country folk don't let a little rain stop the fun. So off we went anyways.

We got there and it was just beautiful.

Northern Arizona

Us Icelanders had never been there before and therefore we tried to take in every scene, smell and feeling.  Not minding the light drizzle of rain (which we Icelanders are used to) we hiked around and admired the great landscape. 

We tried to light a fire to cook our foil dinners.  Which is something an Icelander has to learn to do 

(that is, light a fire and cook foil dinners).

But the fire did not stand the drizzle that had now turned into a down poor.  And neither did the rest of us.  Well to be honest, everyone seemed happy except the women that had to cook with no fire.  But the decision was made to head home and eat there.  So far this whole story sounds just like fun to you. Right?  Well it was on our way home that play and work intermingled.

For it was while we were on our way back home before dark, that one of the trucks got stuck in the dirt, that now had turned into this spectacular compound of mud. 

Heavy and thick, it devoured all four tires.

And so the work/play began.  I could see in the faces of my country friends a mixture of: excitement, worry and determination.  With one shovel, a flashlight (which I mastered quite well) and sagebrush, we (or they, to be honest, because I'm still learning) spent the next hour freeing the heavy truck.

Was it hard?  Yes!
 Was it cold?  Yes!
Did it fulfill our need for play? Oh, Yes!

When back home in dry pajamas, my thoughts kept wandering back to that eventful afternoon. I made up my mind that this would be my first blog.

Remember that work is not just necessary, but if you decide, it can also be fun.  Love your day filled with projects, assignments, duties or whatever you want to call it.  Love that you are capable. Love that feeling of accomplishment.  And last but not least - Love to play!