As a rule, I’m a very organized person. I’m not the kind of
person who usually loses things. I know, I know, you probably feel
like clapping, but please hold off. That’s because my treasured
gardening clippers have come up missing.
As a rule, I’m a very organized person. I’m not the kind of person who usually loses things. I know, I know, you probably feel like clapping, but please hold off. That’s because my treasured gardening clippers have come up missing.
If you’re not an avid gardener, you’re probably saying, “So what?” If you’re an avid gardener, you know the panic that I’m feeling. Let it be known that gardeners grow very attached to their favorite gardening clippers. My favorites are a pair that I bought 30 years ago at the nursery I once worked for. They were imported from Japan, fit very easily into my hand and were all steel. There’s not a piece of plastic to be found.
That’s how good they are. Thirty years ago, gardening tools were not made of plastic! Sure they might be a little heavier with all the metal that went into them, but that’s also why they’ve lasted 30 years.
Anyway, I was working at my usual breakneck speed. That’s another thing – with these favorite gardening clippers of mine, I could cut oh-so-very-fast. Anything you’ve done for 30 years, you get pretty good at. I was clipping away overgrown shrubs that were threatening to take over some of my sprinkler heads. Lots of leaves, lots of limbs, some dead, some not, long grass, weeds and a few nasty rose thorns thrown in. All that mess, plus the speed at which I worked, it’s a wonder I haven’t lost them before.
At least, that’s my excuse.
While it was satisfying to see the progress I had made, I’d take it all back and more to get my favorite gardening clippers back. I’ve already spent at least an additional hour searching my garden, looking for the darn things. Every minute I was looking, I expected the shiny clippers to show up under a plant or pile of weeds. I even emptied the garden recycle receptacle and compost bin, thinking I may have accidentally thrown them away.
I’ve had visions of using those clippers the rest of my life and maybe even passing them on to a grandchild someday. I was pretty darn proud of the idea of using the same pair of clippers all my life. A pair of hand clippers are probably the single gardening tool that I use most often. Much more, for instance, than a trowel, shovel, rake, dust pan, etc.
It’s simply not the same using these brand new clippers made of metal and plastic. Oh sure, they work pretty well and they have padded handles , but sometimes old stuff is just better. Here’s hoping they still show up.
