Dirt

"Don't put that in your mouth, honey! Ick … it's dirty!" "She's a hard worker, and not afraid to get her hands dirty." "I'd have scored that point if the other guy didn't play dirty!" Lots of words take on lots of meanings as they get used, meanings that have nothing to do with their original meaning. I like to trace words back to their early meanings. The word "dirt" began as a synonym for "shit" (I'll trace that word at a later time). Today, it doubles for an unsavory truth about someone ("see if you can dig up some dirt on that guy") and the condition of being destitute ("dirt poor"). In my case, I grew up hearing "dirt" used to describe that which must be shaken or wiped off my shoes before entering the house, and to refer to the brown stuff out of which grass and trees grew, and from which rocks could be dug. "Dirt" was of no consequence, except to farmers and baseball infielders, neither of which pursuits I anticipated in my future. Those early meanings stayed with me for a long time. Along the way I heard expressions like "dirty old man" and "dirty tricks" and "dirty pool", and watched "Dirty Harry". It's not hard to see how the word "dirt" came into my vocabulary as "bad stuff". And also, how I early on developed fear about "the world out there", the world of "nature", and the ground beneath my feet as a dangerous and unfriendly thing, a place that would contaminate me with icky stuff, within which I didn't belong, and which didn't belong in me. I've grown in my understanding of dirt. I'm making dirt in my compost bin. I recognize the erosion of topsoil on the planet is one of the critical environmental issues of our time. I let some leaves decompose on my lawn, because they become a component of the dirt that supports the grass. Today I'm less afraid of "dirt". In fact, I'm working my way up to starting a garden. Getting my hands really dirty. And since I've been introduced to Milorganite, the link between dirt and shit has been forged once again!