New Respect for Stonehenge Movers

Grandson David was talking about quartz in front of neighbor Amy, and she told him she had a big rock he should see. This was quartz on steroids. She offered it to us, saying it would look good in our garden. You see, Amy has a vested interest in our garden. She and Ron lived at the end of the street several years before the first owners moved a modular house next door. Amy and neighbor Shawn shared cuttings and plants with the owners of our house, and that is why our garden looks as good as it does now. Amy also knew I needed lots of guidance. I was a pre-novice, totally disinterested gardener two years ago.

David loved the small boulder, and his enthusiasm motivated John to accept Amy’s offer. We brought tools to Amy’s yard, meeting her on her mower. The most useful thing I did was to stand on the shovel that had pried the rock up while the men hoisted it onto the hand truck.

060816 Moving the rock (1).JPG

060816 Moving the rock (2).JPG — Referring to the camera, John said, “Put that thing down and come here!”

060816 Moving the rock (3).JPG

The fellows pulled that heavy, heavy load up a grassy slope and attached it to the mower. Amy drove it to our house.

060816 Moving the rock (4).JPG

While I tried to decide where it should be placed, they made the decision to offload it at the only spot the mower could get to. Wise move. We may shift it a few inches, but it won’t go far.

060816 Moving the rock (5).JPG

What a struggle it had been! I now have a very healthy respect for prehistoric people who moved enormous bluestones to Stonehenge. I asked everyone to pose for a victory photo.

060816 Moving the rock (6).JPG

Amy also gave us a bench for the pergola. One more trip with the mower, and the bench joined Amy’s birdbath under the wicked wisteria. The scene is deceptively peaceful, don’t you think?

060816 Amy decorated our pergola.JPG

The Reluctant Gardener

When we moved almost two years ago, I had no intention of working outside. I’d been married for 50 years and never had to tend a garden. The problem was, we ate most of our meals on the screened porch overlooking the previous owner’s flower garden. It wasn’t too bad the first summer, but the next season it was a mess. I had to look at it, sometimes three times a day. I was told all I had to do was to keep the weeds down, but how would I know what was weed and what wasn’t? They don’t come out of the ground with tags saying, “Pull me.”

I began going out there, discarding what I thought looked ragged. I had the loyal support of three master gardeners, two of them right next door. If they had a mission of making me into a gardener, they had an uphill fight. I doubt I’ll ever consider myself a real garden woman, but I’m beginning to wonder. We had been away from home for six days. Within one hour of unpacking the car, I found myself in the garden dead-heading the roses and looking hopefully to see if any of the seeds I’d planted had sprouted. Sounds like the gardening disease had gotten me. Further, I was inordinately pleased to see leaves identifiable as four-o’clocks and nasturtiums. It’s too late to return to my former state, isn’t it?

The Music was Too High

I dream almost every time I sleep, and I’m still wondering who is in charge of my dreams. I couldn’t come up with these things in my wildest imagination. The one I woke with this time involved music. Someone insisted I stand with the choir and help them sing a piece I’d never seen before. Luckily, we were at the back, and no one was watching us. I looked around desperately for the music. When I spotted it, I hissed, “It’s too high.”

That would lead you to believe the music was out of my range, that it was too high for me to sing comfortably. No, that wasn’t the problem. The sheet music was dangling about 15 feet above our heads. I could barely see that it was music, much less see my notes.

Two Funerals and a Birthday

We planned to drive north for grandson David’s 21^st birthday. When daughter Kate’s former father-in-law died, we took David with us for the wake and both funerals. Most folks don’t have two funerals, but Walter did. He had been a deacon in the Catholic Church for over 30 years, serving parishes on Long Island and in Connecticut. Both were well attended. John was impressed that the bishop spoke at the second funeral. Walter had been in the first class for deacons taught by the bishop. David knew Walter as a kind grandfather, because he treated his step-grandson just like the others. They drifted apart when the marriage failed and the older couple moved to Massachusetts.

It was unfortunate that David’s special birthday was the day of the first funeral. He said he didn’t want anyone to mention it until after the services were over. We went to the wake the first afternoon and to the first funeral the next day. After the service, we drove to New Jersey to have dinner with Kate and Michael. John bought a small chocolate cake for the required candle and singing Happy Birthday.

060116 David's 21st birthday.JPG

We then drove to Long Island, because the second funeral was at 9:45 the next morning.

After the second funeral, we continued with the day as it had been planned. Having an afternoon and evening, we could see only family and friends who were in the immediate vicinity. We had a delightful lunch with John’s sister Barbara and Thom and sat chatting by the pool. That evening we had dinner with friends Ruth, Al, and Karen. Al brought David into the conversation, talking about Concordia College as it had been when he went there and how things were different for David at the same college now. Several times David laughed heartily. On the way back to the hotel, David commented on what a good day it had been. It felt like the special birthday he had wanted.

060216 Karen Ruth John David Al.JPG

The next morning we left the hotel at 5, picked up David’s clothes in New Jersey, and spent the night in Virginia. It was time to relax before going the rest of the way to NC. The fellows went out train watching while I cuddled up with the computer. I’m sure we were all equally happy with the arrangement.