Dirt. I’ve been in a life and death struggle with grit, sand, dust and leaves … for years. Living in a woods, the amount of dirt ever-present in the air and on the ground is hard to believe. And then, there are the leaves.
The majestic oak trees with which we are surrounded drop millions of leaves every year. Many, we leave in situ. There’s no place to put them anyway. They mulch the garden and turn to humus on the floor of the woods.
The dogs track them in and are sometimes so covered with them, they look like snipers disguising themselves as they set their targets.
Living in the woods is wonderful. And very dirty. We fight back, but we lose. In a good period, we hold our own and make minor headway again the encroaching rubble of nature. Such is the way of woodland living.
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Categories: Daily Prompt, dogs, Photography, woodland, Woods
Having dogs is a losing battle with dirt it seems. I was endlessly sweeping and washing their tracks from the floors!
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Sand at the beach. Need I say more? Even with two tubs of water and a towel laid out on the porch entrance, I could sweep out cups of sand every day. Now that I’m home, it is the dust from the cobblestones. Until we are under the dirt, I think we contend with it!!! After we are under it, it contends with us. I liked your post very much, Marilyn.
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Thank you, Judy! Oh, I remember when we used to summer on the Vineyard. No matter what we did, even showering outdoors before going in the house, sand was EVERYWHERE. And your sand is much softer, so it probably gets into places that we won’t even mention 🙂
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Last year I got tumbled by a wave that put sand under my eyelids. I got eyewash that got it out, but a month later, sand was still working its way out of my ears.
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When we were in St. Martin, we got into some heavy turf and there was sand in absolutely unspeakable places. I assume that over the years, it … uh … worked its way out. But never under my eyelids. That must have HURT.
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It wasn’t packed in but there was definitely some of it lodged in there. I suppose no more than in a bad sand storm. I took the bottle of eyewash back with me but never had to use it.
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Seems like we’re in a losing battle with the dirt and grit. Only the dogs win. The old man was right.
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You have always hated those damn leaves 🙂 I like what you did with the photo M.
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Thank you!! It’s just there are SO MANY leaves. Millions and millions of leaves. And acorns. I’m sure there are more with each year because the trees keep getting bigger!
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Wanna talk about dust..? try living in a desert. Plenty of open sky and sunshine here, which I wouldn’t mind sharing with you.., especially in the summer months. Oh gotta go.., the desert’s about to bloom and it’s a short spectacle..
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I dunno. I’ll pit my pollen and tree dirt against your desert sand any day. Sometimes, I’m sure it’s really closing in on me.
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I’m contending with that today, too, and I don’t live in the woods. Just surrounded by an assortment of trees. Good luck!
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Brooms at the ready!!!
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And a rake…
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And a shovel.
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I’ve been using my snow shovel for this job.
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Us too. I’m not sure we own any other kind. Probably, we’ve got a digging spade somewhere in the shed, but I use hand tools in the garden, so I have not needed a real shovel in a long time. But if I kill someone, I’m sure I’l need one again. I’ve got a little list.
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:O
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The good thing about a digging shovel is it can double as murder weapon and a tool for hiding the evidence and the corpse. I recommend getting one if you find you don’t have one. You never know.
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Good thing we’ve got plenty of cargo space in the jeep. Heh. All I need now is some contractor’s plastic, the spade, and I’m good to go.
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That’s the downside of beauty.
Leslie
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Yes, it is. Flowers, trees, grass … everything gets old, falls down, needs raking, sweeping, cleaning up. And of course, those muddy paws, oy.
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oy indeed. chuckle
Leslie
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I would take a house in, or at least near, the woods any day. A little dirt never hurt anyone. Here in my suburbs, I get mud – and whacked out neighbors. Definitely not looking forward to warmer weather.
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I love being in the woods, though I wouldn’t object to a little more open sky and sunshine. It can be very dark here in the summertime. Probably keeps the place cooler, which is good, but we get very little sun after the trees bloom. I always wanted to live in the woods. I just didn’t know exactly what that really meant. It’s a bit more work than I expected, is all 🙂
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And I can envy you living in the woods. Leaves are ever present, but they belong to the woods and fade into the ground eventually. We in the civilised garden world spend money on ridding our gardens of nature’s dirt, beause it might spoil the look of things, but it doesn’t beause it belongs. I escape to the woods now and again to see the realities of the natural surroundings.
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We gave up on trying to beat back nature long ago. The wildflowers and weeds are incredibly energetic. Between them and the creatures around us — the deer, squirrels, bobcats, fisher cats, rabbits, raccoon, hawks, eagles, mice, chipmunks and who knows what else — AND the dogs … well … we never stood a chance. We had a lawn in the backyard one year, but then the crabgrass took over and we threw in the towel. Fortunately, the wildflowers are lovely too. And the hedge roses and day lilies are invincible, so we have flowers. Just not NEAT flowers. Messy, wild, crazy, jungly flowers.
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