You may be wondering where I am going with the title of this post. Let me explain. My husband and I do things differently when it comes to preciseness. He measures. I guestimate or eyeball. As a person who measures, my husband feels that his way is correct and I can see his point, but my argument is that we both end up with a good result in the end, so my way isn’t necessarily wrong, it’s just different. We both continue to use our own methods and maybe it’s because we think our way is better or we are just being stubborn. Either way, this attitude can lead you down a rabbit hole (definition: to enter into a situation or begin a process or journey that is particularly strange, problematic, difficult, complex, or chaotic) hence the title.
Before we get to the rabbit hole itself, I want to give some insight into our methods and how they differ.
In the past when I have hung a picture, I tried to measure but it took too long and ended up not being straight. When I do it my way there may be a few mores holes in the wall, but it took less time, and no frustration was involved. Another time our preciseness and lack thereof came into play was when I wanted to hang lanterns on our side of our neighbor’s six-foot high fence (with permission of course). My husband was leaving on a business trip but before he left, we talked about hanging the lanterns so they would be line up nicely. He talked about measuring the fence and breaking it into sections…I was a little overwhelmed at the thought of it but was willing to give it a try.
The next day I tried using a measuring tape and breaking it into sections, but it just wasn’t working for me. I was discouraged at this point and sat on the ground cursing the fence. But as I sat there staring at the fence, I got an idea. My thought was to count all the pickets on the fence and break it up that way. I jumped up, counted all the pickets, then divided by the number of lanterns and “viola” I had my spacing. Next, I measured (yes, I used a measuring tape) the height of the fence deciding where I wanted to place the lanterns. With all this information I was able to place all the lanterns in a symmetrical straight line. If my husband was there, would he have been able to do the same thing using his method, I have no doubt.
Our neighbor’s fence, no wonder I was overwhelmed.
Using my method of counting, I hung all the lanterns.
Perfectly symmetrical and straight.
Story of the Rabbit Hole
Last year I created a cottage garden in my backyard and love the way it turned out. This year I wanted to add a picket fence which is where the tale begins.
Because I wanted the bushes in front of the fence, I needed to move them. This was my first attempt eyeballing it as you can see it was not straight. After many more tries (in the extreme heat) I finally got them in line.
Next, I took out the fence to see how it would look next to the bushes. It was going to be perfect except they were too close to the fence. I knew if my husband was doing this, he would have had a measuring tape and string to make a straight line. Instead, I eyeballed it again, this time it took four tries.
Oh yes there was also a front part of the garden but this time I did use a stick to help guide me. Alas it took at least two maybe three tries. I can’t remember because I felt faint from the heat…
As I am writing this and reflecting on the situation, I really thought in the beginning that my method would work. But after that first attempt, I should have used a measuring tape and string. Why didn’t I do it? Plain and simple I did not want to admit that my husband’s method would have been better in this case. So, down the rabbit hole I went.
In the future I hope I will be able to concede and not be so stubborn!