Yesterday the wife had me digging holes in the ground in the over 100 degree weather so that she could put more of her plants in the terra firma. As is usually the case we were bickering over where to place them. My wife wanted them very close to the corners and I wanted them anywhere else. It was if we were speaking two different languages that neither of us could understand. Eventually we were able to settle on secondary locations and I was clear to finish the holes and leave her to her planting. A shower was needed to cool me off and clean me up so that I could head off to work.

Right before I got in the shower I had an epiphany. We were looking at the situation from two very different places and what the other thought didn't even register. She was looking at the aesthetic view of placement, symmetry, color and so forth and how all of that would affect the overall appearance of the yard and that was her priority. I was viewing it in a solely pragmatic way as to how it would affect me in doing yardwork and I was concerned with making my job easier, not more difficult and that was my priority. Her way while perhaps making the yard look very nice would make my job of cutting grass infinitely harder, inhibiting me from being able to make turns in the corners and limiting my effectiveness and more importantly, my speed. Believe me, I don't enjoy yardwork and it shows.

So the two of us are thinking of this in ways that are completely alien to how the other looks at it. Now that I know this about how differently we view things I need to figure out a way to apply it to everything we do. That's easier said than done and besides, just because I have the knowledge doesn't mean it will make everything go any smoother. After all, it takes two to tango and I can only attempt to control myself. Still we can hope for the best. As long as we discover these things about each other and use the knowledge accordingly in theory it can only makes things better. We'll find out about how things go in a practical sense as we stumble our way through life just like everybody else out there. So I'll just have to keep on keeping on.

Published by Don Leach