When we moved last December, I was leaving yard work behind. No more big yard. No more landscaping.

The small yard would not require mowing. I spend the fall moving plants into small landscaping areas. Weeds were not to be an element in this new paradise.

A snowier than usual winter gave way to a wetter than normal spring to be followed by a record heat summer. The small patch of clover I had planted grew taller than I anticipated. Worse yet, the weeds that infiltrated the lush clover gave it a much more unruly appearance.

And, the nominal landscaping areas grew weeds as well. I was quiet sure they would not. How could they? This was the perfectly planned yard – no mowing, no weeding.

Casual efforts to pull a few weeds out on my morning trip to the paper box and an occasional brief Saturday morning weed pulling session were not adequate. Eventually, the weeds became a force to be reckoned with.

I enlisted the aid of a brawny young man on Saturday to assault the clover with a weed trimmer. That was never supposed to be necessary in my original plan. Then, he and I tackled weeds in the landscaping. We set to on them until the sun forced us to retreat to my favorite spot on the back deck.

I’m pretty sure there are life observations to be gleaned from among the weeds.

• This is not paradise. There will be weeds.
• Getting the weeds out of the way helps the things you actually intended to grow to thrive.
• Weeds require more than a casual effort to keep them at bay.
• Just pulling a few weeds doesn’t get rid of the problem. If there are still weeds, they will take over.
• Getting the roots is essential to getting rid of the weeds. They will come back and probably will be stronger.
• Dealing with weeds is an ongoing project, not a one-time effort.

Just remember, in this life, there will be weeds. What is your weed problem? How are you dealing with it? Have you found someone to help you with the project or are you trying to tackle it alone?