People say “Did you do all this?!”

I cannot say that I did. I cannot say that I did not.

I do take pride in my shovel

and the person who invented the shovel

manufactured the shovel

delivered the shovel.

I take pride in human creativity, resilience, strength.

I take pride in the air, the soil, the water, the seeds, the plants.

Proud is a funny word. It indicates ego. Ego indicates self.

Gardening, shoveling, these are selfless acts.

I hold the shovel. The shovel digs.

I plant the seeds. The seeds germinate.

I water the seeds with water that is not “mine”.

The plants grow.

I shovel, weed, nurture, love, and deeply honor that of which I can only be one little part, one little, vital, interconnected part. Pride has very little to with it. Other than to say, I am proud of the shovel.