Wednesday night, TJ offered to handle all the night time kid stuff and told me just to go do something to recharge. He noticed I was a bit worn down after doing everything on my own last week while he was on a work trip, and managing to stay on top of my remote full-time job with the kids home with me this summer.
I also hadn’t slept well for three days in a row, which is unusual for me. I think I had just been juggling too many things for too many days.
He said just go do whatever you want for a few hours.
And I thought about it for just a few minutes...
All I wanted to do was go piddle around outside in my garden.
So from about 6:30-8:30pm I pruned, trellised, harvested, watered and wandered around smelling flowers, lemon basil and rosemary. My phone battery died shortly after I went outside, so I didn’t even have that to distract me. (I snapped these photos the next night.)






I worked up a sweat, and just as the sun was setting, I took a lap around the neighborhood to appreciate the cooler night air and to notice the lightning bugs making their appearance.
I showered and stretched and went to bed, and I slept like a baby for the first time since Saturday.
Good for my mental health, good for my physical health, gardening is a complete hobby.






Sometimes, hobby doesn’t even sound like a rich enough word.