When we moved into this little hippie house in October, our landlord walked us around the property and showed us the property line and the location where the previous tenants had a huge garden. He pointed out an area at the back property where wild Marijuana would grow in the spring. At the back of the property are huge trees in a horseshoe shape surrounding the yard. Behind these large trees is a wide walkway to the side street. The walkway is used by utility and emergency vehicles and must be maintained and mowed by the tenants (us).When spring arrived in lala land, my friends, warmer weather coaxed us to mow some of the large back lawn and start planning what to do with the back yard. While walking around the back part of the property, Hubby spied some plants that looked familiar to him. Hundreds of plants.
We each carried large trash bags and hand picked every Marijuana plant, pulling the roots. Hubby has been clean and sober for almost eleven years now, but prior to that his drug of choice for over thirty years was this very plant.
Hubby explained that he has an addict mind and a recovery mind. While we picked plants, his addict mind piped up with weird ideas. He said it was the first time he had been in the vicinity of weed for almost eleven years. "As soon as the plants were trashed, the recovery mind laughed at the addict mind and the addict mind shut up."
Part of me is thinking how ironic that a person with Hubby's past would be renting a place that grows a plant that he was addicted to for so many years.
So we aren't having a yard party; we are pulling weed(s). Every time I walk out to the far end of the property I find a couple more plants to pull. Sheesh.
30 comments:
Uh oh. That would be tough for a recovering addict, I must say.
Congrats to hubby for winning that fight! Presented with something like that it could have been so easy to just slip back.
I found a full pipe I had hidden and forgotten (stoners do this a lot) about 3 weeks after I quit. I was alone, and a lighter was nearby. I chuckled and threw it away.
After nearly 11 years finding these plants was a simple thought exercise more than an excuse to use. Because that's what it is. A good day, a bad day, a Wednesday, find a lost pipe, get fired, get hired, whatever, there is no event on earth an addict will not deduce an excuse to use from it.
James you've reminded me of a quote the British footballer George Best once said, who was an alcoholic, about how there was always a reason to have a drink. If it's a grey wet day he needed a glass of wine to cheer him up, if it was a lovely sunny day then what better way to enjoy it than with a glass of wine too.
Good for you. :)
Wow--it's amazing to have so many of those plants just growing wild. I am sure that on the island where we live, there are plots of marijuana. Reminds me of the Copperhead Road song. Glad that James decided to rip them out by the roots.
i am glad he is strong enough to do the disposal and has you there as well...good move...
James, you are a strong and dedicated person. As an old hippie myself with lots of years in the past dedicated to cannabis, it's been long enough now that I THINK I could do what you did. A decade is not that long ago. Ripping those plants out... glad I don't have to test myself.
That was a a real salute to the life you and James have found together. Kudos to you both.
Wow! As someone who works with addicts, and teaches groups about recovery almost daily, I am sure that was such a huge trigger for him. But he clearly has the tools for it to only phase him a little.
tough decision but the right one for him. Having only experienced casual use decades ago I wonder if my reaction to a situation like this would be different. Maybe the same.
Appears the landlord is not concerned about the crop on his land.
If he considers it a problem, it's good that he feels he has conquered it especially if there is a legal problem with it in your region. I never understood the lure and have never tried it wild or otherwise. If I had a painful illness, I might be desperate enough to try anything.
i had no idea they were perennials and so persistent in coming back even when neglected.
I think the Universe has a wicked sense of humor.
Alcohol was my drug of choice, but I was never an addict. Still I have found at my age I can tolerate less of it though I love to make a cocktail and delight in different recipes. But more than one and I just end up feeling kind of lousy. And I can't seem to fit more than one beer in my tummy. I'll likely survive.
wow. Really interesting convergence of things there. Congrats to hubby for trashing the weeds.
You know silly me, I did not know it grew wild, what are the chances of that out behind the house. good for getting rid of it for sure. hugs.
LOL...we have had that experience here ...I kept seeing the little buggers and thinking, nah...must be something else. My son cleared up the mystery. Husbandman and I are both long time clean and sober, he at 31 and me at 21...it was a hoot.
All I could think was...why now? Why not when I could have use it? LOL
oh geeeeeez......
I used to date Georgie Best (just saying..)!!
"..Pulling weed(s)" Ha!
There is absolutely no doubt James will ever go back there - how much will-power must that have taken? You guys are truly in a good place, physically AND mentally. (x)
I guess "grows like weed" has a whole new meaning... I feel for your husband, he must be strong to resist when it's all that close and easy.
Sounds like a bonfire was in order! I kid...I kid...sometimes. LOL
That marijuana is an evil temptress. She will keep on trying....
Good for him on remaining clean and sober for such a long time!
Honestly, I never thought of weed as addictive. But since it's troublesome for James, good for him for dealing with it as he did. I suspect that the truer test was the full pipe (as per his comment) because of the timing and how accessible it was compared to freshly grown.
Addict mind and recovery mind... so interesting... I have never been addicted to drugs or alcohol & never smoked for that matter. Interesting that those plants should thrive at your home. Never heard of wild MJ!
Congrats on successful removal of temptation! xo
I guess now in Michigan it doesn't take much to get a license to grow the stuff, for medicinal purposes they say. I guess a lot of people use it for medicinal purposes.
That is will power. I'd be stuffing it in a bag and saving it for my next episode of monthly cramps. ;)
Kudos to James.
You have to wonder if it was a test from the universe, a test he clearly passed. I love the idea of an addict mind and a recovery mind coexisting in one person. I've always thought that pot was a beautiful looking plant, though, and I believe it should be legal.
Wow! What a wonderful day pulling weeds; taming the tempting mind!!
Heh, heh. Interesting.
Of course, wild marijuana is just "hemp," good for making rope and little else, but lead us not into temptation all the same, huh?
Sorry for my absence. I've missed the blog world, but in this heat, I find I do very little. Still, it's nice to visit and I haven't forgotten you guys.
Hope you're having a great summer.
I am inspired by you my brother! I wish there was a solution like that for the food issues. it is the same feeling tho, grey day, sunny day, Tuesday! Whatever reason or excuse. I am extremely proud of you and love you loads
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