Blight in the Garden
My apple and pear trees have been infected with blight, a fungal disease that can quickly kills leaves, stems, and fruit. But both of my trees are blight resistant varieties, which is a good thing, because so far, the outbreak has been manageable. Many years ago in Pennsylvania, I had an arctic kiwi vine (not blight resistant) growing on an arbor. The eight-foot-tall vine was vibrant, green, and healthy when I left for work one morning. When I returned nine hours later, the entire plant looked as if someone had taken a torch to it. That was my introduction to blight.
Blight is contagious and must be addressed quickly or it will spread (even with resistant plants). The infected parts need to be cut off and placed in sealed trash bags. Clippers need to be sterilized with alcohol between cuts or you’ll spread the disease as you are working to eradicate it. I’ve also been treating the trees with Neem Oil (Azadirachta indica ) once the infected pieces have been removed.
I’ve been carefully examining the trees each day and if I find any evidence of blight I follow the protocol outlined above. Things will be fine for a few days. Then I’ll discover another small outbreak. It takes constant vigilance. And I am committed to the task.
Negative Thinking as Blight
When I think about how blight in the garden relates to the rest of our lives, the most obvious analogy is negative thinking. Negative thinking is a kind of doomsday thinking. Everything is awful and will continue to be awful forever. Like blight, negative thinking can spread quickly. Negative thinking, if left unchecked, will sap our energy and kill dreams and motivation. It might seem to disappear for a few days and then pop up when we least expect it.
I don’t mean we should pretend everything is wonderful when it’s not. There is a difference between being realistic and being hopeless. We can recognize challenges, roadblocks, and even tragedies, gather our strength and come up with our best plan for getting through or coping with difficulties.
Awareness of negative thinking is the mindfulness focus for the week. Dealing with the blight of negative thinking begins with awareness. We can mindfully pay attention to our thoughts and intentionally replace negative thoughts with positives. A good place to start is listening to our internal dialogue. Do we talk to ourselves the way we’d talk to a friend or do we constantly criticize and tear ourselves down? And what purpose does that serve? Awareness is a first step.
For more information on weekly mindfulness focus words click here.
