Spain diary: I went to prune an olive tree and that shit works therapeutically
¡Hola, buenos dias guapos! My beginner's Spanish (just a little bit) is coming back day by day, bit by bit. Just in case you're thinking: Look, what are you babbling about: I'm currently in Spain. My mother has emigrated and for the first time in months I dared to step onto a plane. The best choice of 2021, I can tell you.
When I arrived at this house I had to blink three times. Mom, is this real? Is this really yours? I had to be shown around three times before I understood the house a little. What I am especially amazed about is the piece of land around the house. Olive trees, pepper trees, fig trees; everywhere you look there are trees growing something edible. On day 1 my mother showed me the mountain behind her house. ‘One day this will also be your house, and then this will be your backyard.’ I felt like a kind of Simba looking out over the kingdom next to Mufasa. ‘Do you see those trees over there? Those are olive trees. There are 23 of them, I still need to prune them.’ For the first time I feel how proud I am of my mother for daring to take the plunge.
The next afternoon we walk into the valley with two gigantic hedge trimmers. I have never worked in a garden in my life, let alone do I know how to prune an olive tree. ‘It should be like a martini glass,’ my mother says. ‘A stem from below, then let it spread wide and a bit flatter on top.’ I start patiently trimming on my knees. With every stem I cut, branch I saw, and weed I pull from the ground, I feel my mood becoming calmer. It's just like exercising: you are so focused on your task that your mind has no time to think about other things.
A little later I feel strangely satisfied. Wow, gardening works therapeutically. I already knew it (at least, I read it somewhere, but had no further idea) and have now felt it myself. There is a reason for ‘garden therapy’, where people with burnouts create vegetable gardens together. Digging in the ground is healthy. Gardening has something very earthy and conscious about it. Without sounding too much like a hippie: you connect with nature and with life.
The pruning went quite well for a first time. The first tree – really, sorry tree – we completely butchered due to lack of experience (the first pancake always fails, was our conclusion) and then we got better at it. First check if there are no bird nests in it, then start with the weeds on the ground and then slowly work upwards. Everything that hangs down can come off. One of the benefits: you have time for nice conversations while you are digging together.
Three hours later and we have pruned nine olive trees. Proudly we stand in the valley. People are nice beings. We can be quickly satisfied. Having a common goal and working towards it together creates a great feeling of happiness. By being busy with a task in the garden, you also feel consciously and meaningfully engaged. Meanwhile, there are nicely 700 calories on the counter of my Fitbit. Gardening isn't so bad after all.
‘Qué hora? Is it time for a glass of wine now?’ I think so, mom.
Just a little more about that Spanish life, huh. I could get used to it.
