Sifting the Dirt

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The year is ending as it began, with my father and I sifting dirt in the driveway.

Each winter, Dad empties the soil from the flower boxes onto a large mesh screen atop a wheelbarrow. He pushes it back and forth to filter out the leaves, dead roots and other detritus.

He stores the dirt in buckets under the house so he can refill the window boxes in the spring. 

He says it saves money because he doesn’t have to buy as much fresh soil.

Maybe I’m wrong, but it’s hard to imagine many people in this disposable era recycling the dirt used each year for geraniums and pansies. 

It’s also a great example of beneficial habits that are little discussed and hard to emulate. 

These are not the Atomic Habits we read about on social media. They are not regularly scheduled workouts at the gym or intermittent fasting or morning cold plunges. 

These are annual efforts tied to the season, not a specific day on the calendar. 

They are hard to remember and harder to maintain year after year. But they are habits that define us and compound over long time frames. 

As we emptied the dirt I also noticed: 

--The strainer is handmade. A wooden frame of 2x4s with a screen of turkey wire attached. Dad says chicken wire is too small. Anything else is too big. 

--The buckets he uses to store the dirt are empty five-gallon spackling receptacles. Dad pulls them out the trash at construction sites and cleans them. 

--The wheelbarrow is a decades-old bequest from a neighbor who passed. Dad painted the ends of the handles with the yellow caution paint he uses to “brand” all his tools. 

I realize that the project required specific tools and those were all assembled in advance for this task. It underscores the effort and intent. We would call it “mindfulness” these days.

The biggest lesson for me as I shovel the dirt is that realization that I didn’t know this has been going on for years and probably decades. I only found out in 2022. 

That’s when I took the time to pick up my head and notice Dad in the driveway and ask what the heck he was doing.

Before that, it was something that happened in the background. 

I accomplished a number of things this year, including launching a writing agency for executives, starting a newsletter and preparing for a podcast. 

But the biggest thing was to take a breath and look around. To be more curious about what other people do and ask them why they do it. 

It’s something I’d recommend everyone consider for 2024.

I’d start with your parents or others close to you. And then extend that curiosity to everyone you meet. You’ll realize there’s a lot going on at the periphery. 

And it can open up worlds. 

(Part of a series of life lessons based on conversations with my parents.)

BRIEF OBSERVATIONS

HOME HEATING: There are big differences in how people heat their homes in America, which is not something I’ve spent much time thinking about.

THE FLU: The flu is deadlier than I realized.

TWITTER FOLLOWERS: A substantial number of the followers of the Financial Times on X were found to be accounts with zero followers, ie fake accounts. That is probably not unique to the FT.

MEASURING YOUR TIME: Vala Afshar is one of the kinder people you’ll find on social media. He also says some big things in simple ways.

BOBECHE: I just learned the word bobeche. It’s a decorative ring or cup that fits over the socket of a candleholder. Not sure how I didn’t know that.