Bougainvillea and Moonlight

Posted on by Felipe Zapata

MY CHILD BRIDE headed by bus to Querétaro Monday morning on family business, but I stayed here at the Hacienda.

It’s always strange being here alone. There are aspects to it that I enjoy, but the negatives outweigh the positives.  I’ve grown accustomed to her face.

About 7 p.m. I headed outside to walk about the yard for no other reason than to stretch my legs, but I noticed yardwork that needed to be done. It was still light out, but the moon loomed in the sky. It was day and night.

I grabbed clippers and trimmer. First, with clippers, I removed some aloe vera flowers on stalks that had lost their will to live. The moon watched.

Dropping the clippers, I turned to the hedge trimmer and rounded two of the smaller bougainvilleas, the ones that are still controllable. Then I bent over and pulled some weeds at their bases, weeds that I should have pulled weeks ago.

I’m getting lazy. Years ago, I would never have let those weeds grow to that extent. You get older. You cease to care about some things.

I was in my pajamas, or what passes for my pajamas. Flannel pants with Garfield the Cat all over them and a black T-shirt from Lands’ End.

Getting darker out and feeling that I’d done enough yardwork, I came in for the traditional evening salad and foccacia bread.

The Goddess willing, she’ll be returning tomorrow afternoon.

And evenings will be normal once again.

17 thoughts on “Bougainvillea and Moonlight”

  2. That’s cute that you miss your child bride. I get it. Over 33 years I’ve probably spent a dozen nights without my sweetie (aw shucks).
    About gardens: I had one for 22 years. I loved it and slaved away almost every day. It was my muse. Now that we sold that place, my work is over. Our new place has a “garden spot” but eight years later we still haven’t planted anything. I add organic nutrients every year and mulch with grass clippings to keep the weeds at bay. It’s my “running to the hills emergency garden,” but I really don’t think it will come to that. My friends are confused as to why I don’t plant anything in my garden, and I’d like to keep it that way. I might start off with a garden ornament. No watering required.

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    1. Brent: We’ve been married 16 years, and we’ve spent quite a few nights in different locations, far more than your dozen. The first year we were married, before she got her U.S. visa, I went to Atlanta to visit my mother for a week, so there’s seven nights right there. And on every Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, she goes and does her crazy, Mexican, all-night thing elsewhere with the nutty relatives while I sleep here in peace. The next day, she comes home catatonic, and I’m fresh-faced and rested. I keep thinking that one day she’ll realize she’s getting too old for that stuff.

      As for gardening, I do not like yardwork in the slightest, and never have. I do like how it looks, however. I just want someone else to do it, not me.

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    1. Kim: I took off the like buttons for comments because, well, just because. But the like buttons for the posts are still right there at the bottom right next to the reblog button (which nobody ever does) and just below the share button. If you don’t see them, I got no clue why.

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