Sisyphus Anyone?

Sisyphus Anyone?
Or, 
The Misery of Life in El Paso, Texas. U.S.A.

I just spent an hour pulling weeds in my father's rock garden.
He doesn't like it when I call it a "rock garden". He prefers to speak of "desert landscaping."

Whatever you call it, I think it's bullshit.

What's the point?  You live in a desert.  So, you want to have green grass like in Scotland?

Or, some fool comes---someone who knows nothing about biology or ecology---and he dumps
a bunch of rocks---of uniform size and color, arranged in pleasing patterns---on top of what?  A plastic sheet?  Or does he poison the area first?

And then the wind blows seeds.  And, increasingly, it rains, and the rain collects in odd places---between the cracks in the cement, or in the corners of the defensive fortification you've placed around your patch of rocks, and in a dozen other places.  And all of those places are, from the point of view of evolution, wisely chosen to allow life to continue.  ---Life which is at odds with the artificial pattern of your rock garden.

And wherever there is green, there are roots,--- and where are roots, there is water, and so bugs!  Hoo-Raaaah!  Life in all of its variety!

but, no!  That is not appropriate or suitable to our way of living.  No. It would ruin the beauty of the landscaping.

And, so you arm yourself with noxious chemicals, and you wage chemical warfare against the life-forms who have existed longer than you have....????

Best of all, as you drive by in your car, you can admire the work, "Oh, they take care of their yard."

Really, is that the point?  I don't get it.

Or, after hours of back-breaking work, you take a shower, sit on your porch, drink a beer (which you will promptly throw on the sidewalk or on the neighbor's lawn once you've finished it---hopefully it's glass and will break---that is added pleasure)....and you gaze with pleasure on a job well done.

Hello.   Are you kidding me?  You call this living?   Please, excuse me.  This is not for me.  Goodbye, I must be leaving.....