Don’t you love this time of year? It gets kind of hectic, but it is a good kind of hectic. Last week I spent some time with my trusty, rusty, and somewhat dusty old wheelbarrow. It is 44 years old. I felt like I should be visiting her in a home for seniors instead of making her work.
Hubby bought this wheelbarrow for our first full summer here. I remember the excitement we felt when we brought it home. We were fighting foot-tall weeds, sandburs, and nettles, because the prior owners only mowed about 15 feet behind the house. Neighbors told us the top soil had been hauled away years before, so nothing would grow. Trees wouldn’t grow, rose bushes wouldn’t grow and planting a garden and flower beds was a lost cause. The only thing that grew was quack grass. That grew very well!
Over the years this little old rusty wheelbarrow did a lot of hard labor. It hauled big heavy rocks for my old rock-bed. It hauled sand for my kid’s sandbox. It hauled assorted fertilizers, grass seed, and dirt mixtures. It hauled lawn decorations, lumber, brush, and leaves. It hauled big heavy pieces of cement which caused the bars holding the front wheel to bend. It hauled sod we got from my Grandfather’s farm. Sod, which we accidentally took from the wrong place! As a free bonus with the sod, we acquired a good dose of dandelions and daisies. Over the next several years, we used the little old rusty wheelbarrow to haul away those same dandelions after digging them up.
The little old rusty wheelbarrow is not the most efficient. It is not very handy compared to the nice, deep, and well-balanced wheelbarrows of today. It only has one wheel. Just the same, it is reliable and brings with it 44 years of memories. Memories of hard work. Memories of being hot and sweaty. Memories of building a home and life with my family through persistence and dedication.
Yes, it’s old and rusty. Many would discard it and upgrade to a newer, fancier, better-looking, and more efficient model. Somehow, we haven’t been able to do that. It just doesn’t feel right. And so we enter another summer trying to balance a somewhat tipsy and rusty old wheelbarrow. We mix our potting soil in its’ shallow basin. We carefully push it hoping the potting soil doesn’t end up being dumped before we are ready. We fill the flower containers with the soil. Mission accomplished. The old trusty and rusty wheelbarrow got us through another planting season. She takes her place in the shop resting her bent bars while waiting for the next task. After all, she is just 44 years young and she has a family to take care of.
Who knows? Maybe someday my daughter or son will fill it with soil and plant their flowers. Until then, she sits just fine in hubby’s shop.