All my colleagues who work in ground meteorological observation should remember this rule written in black and white in the regulations: the observation field must be covered with shallow, flat grass, no more than 20 centimeters high, and free of weeds.
Haha, for these tiny words, we meteorological station observers began our battle against weeds, which is somewhat humorous in retrospect.
The section chief divided the observation field into equal-sized plots, and each of us observers was assigned one, which some colleagues jokingly called our "private plot." From the day our "private plot" was allocated, it became our "precious land," which we had to maintain, manage, and carefully tend to. Tall grass was manageable because this type of Manila grass doesn't grow very tall; if it was slightly too tall, we could just pull it out, no problem. The most troublesome thing was the weeds; they weren't so easy to deal with.
At first, I didn't know how to deal with these weeds; I just knew to pull them out as soon as I saw them. But, heaven knows, how could there be so many weeds? I pulled until my head was spinning, and only managed to clear a small patch. Having been pampered at home, my delicate skin couldn't adapt immediately. After only a few minutes of working, small blisters appeared on my fingers, causing excruciating pain; my "golden tears" were practically falling. My colleagues laughed at me, calling me a pampered princess, and I was too exhausted to argue. Finally, I finished, drenched in sweat! (But looking at my clean "private plot," I still felt a sense of accomplishment, haha.)
The South is rainy; from April to September each year, it's mostly drizzling. Coming from the Northwest, I initially found walking in the rain quite pleasant, and I really enjoyed it. But I never imagined that rainy days would be so incredibly beneficial for plant growth! Especially these weeds! I had just cleared them away a few days ago, but under the gentle caress of the rain, they had revived and were even growing stronger. I was dumbfounded; this was an even more classic way of growing than "wildfire cannot burn them all, the spring breeze brings them back to life!" I was heartbroken. Sigh, for the sake of my "private plot," I had no choice but to obediently go back to weeding.
An older colleague, seeing my plight, advised me: "When you weed, start pulling from the root, pull it a little deeper, and it won't grow so fast." I did as he said, and although it was tiring, it worked very well. For more than half a month, I didn't see any weeds grow back. I was extremely excited, thinking I had overcome the difficulty, and I was ecstatic.
Then, the county had several heavy rains in a row, and I became much busier with work. I didn't have time to pay attention to that "private plot" anymore. One day, while I was busy correcting the rainfall log, the section chief said to me, "Your weeds have grown back. Take some time these next couple of days to pull them out." I was startled, and the pencil in my hand fell to the ground. I rushed to the observation field and, sure enough, the lush weeds greeted my gaze. Some even had small pink wildflowers blooming, their pink blossoms contrasting beautifully with the fresh green after the rain, seemingly smiling at me. The scenery was stunning, but my heart was filled with bitterness. Weeds, were you testing my fingers or my perseverance?
Alas, in the end, I lost the battle against the weeds because I underestimated them. Later, that older colleague told me, "To completely eradicate weeds, you need to maintain them for at least several years. Their roots are long, deep, and numerous. Pulling them out once or twice is completely useless; at most, they'll grow slower, but they'll revive in the rain. That's the nature of weeds: tenacious!" Hearing this, I felt enlightened, finally understanding. My
struggle against weeds began the day I started working at the meteorological bureau. Almost seven years have passed in the blink of an eye. Although sometimes weeds play tricks on me, it's a bittersweet experience. For the sake of my great meteorological career, I will continue the fight against weeds—respectable observer!
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