Nihal Dennis
During my hour of outdoor activity I took advantage of a brief period of nicer weather to trim the trees in my community garden to ensure that my contract is renewed next season. It has been about three months since I has been in my garden plot last. The neat rows of amaranth are now host to a carpet cold hardy weeds; looking around I’m taking in how much work will have to be done to get the plot ready for the next season. Admittedly it will not be as much as when I first inherited the wildly overgrown garden, but enough to make me worry about getting my homework done in time.
In the comforts of my bedroom I am watching the Democratic managers lay their case out for the impeachment of the President on CNN. Unlike the natural sounds that enveloped me in my garden, I am now met with the tone of my furnace and the washing machine. The smell of my partners baking bread replaces the earthen nitrogenous rich smells of my garden. As I go in the kitchen for a glass of water my cat jumps off the bed and follows me in the kitchen in an attempt to win some treats from me. While I love the outdoors, the warmth and comfort of my house are appreciated this hour.
In all, this experience was very rewarding, for one it provided the motivation to work in my garden while being exceptionally mindful of my surroundings. The indoor and outdoor worlds are very different, we have designed our dwellings in such a manor that the two worlds are indistinguishable. This domestic condition has created a duality within that I was not aware of, an almost dislike of being away from my home comforts in exchange for outdoor work. Finally I have come to the conclusion that my view is based upon the season and the general cold weather that we are experiencing. Being outdoors during this time of year is reminiscent of hard tasking. Which makes the experience very different than being indoors for an hour. The information that I received while outdoors spoke to my inner nature or my “primal instincts”; bird calls, smells, wind directions. While indoors the information that I received was more intellectual; news/tv, internet, thermostat readings.