This 8th item might prove to be the most challenging to me, in terms of time, money and the sweat equity that goes with it. Oh yeah, and it's definitely going to require the most patience to accomplish and any of you who know Peggy Miller well enough will agree with me when I say that they may have to list my "cause of death" someday as ~"she died because she wasn't patient." Redoing a backyard that is probably way too big for me to begin with is a formidable task and certainly one that is going to require some planning and movement in "baby steps" along the way.
So, with an overall goal of having things finished by the time gardening season rolls around next March or April, this weekend I have begun. Little by little, project by project, I'm going to be trying to find "Peggy's backyard". It's "hidden" back there somewhere and with luck I will find it. And by the way, it's not like it's a horrible place to be already and I guess I could be perfectly content to keep it the way that it is. But as I've grown older here, things are not so easy to take care of on my own. I love to garden and can the produce that I harvest but "tilling the earth" and growing tasty veggies and fruits requires weeding and a LOT of it! So I say to you all, in the summer of my 57th year, I don't want to get down on my hands and knees and pull weeds any more. I want to put in raised beds that will allow me to continue gardening well into the years to come.
And that's not all~there are trees I want to take out and trees I want to put back in. Yeah, yeah, yeah I know...kind of like how some of us love to move furniture all around in the house and end up putting it back the very same place. I want to plant flowers and other things that are perennial in nature, those that year after year will come back on their own. I used to think it was too expensive to spend that kind of money on plants. Now I know that they pay for themselves in the long run. For all of these things and a bazillion more, I'm glad to be working on bucket list item #8.
The first phase of this bucket list item, from now until the end of September, will involve getting rid of things I no longer want or need in the backyard area. In a couple of weeks, a local tree removal company is coming to take out one of the way overgrown elms that are in the backyard as well as completely cut back the lower hanging limbs of the other two. I love the shade but now everything has become out of hand with them. Removing the worst one will assure my garden area of getting about 100 percent more sunlight come next May and since I still plan to grow stuff, that's a plus for me. I'm working within a budget back there and I had already set my limits as to what I would spend before I got finished. The tree removal, a very necessary evil, will eat up 25% of my funds in less than a 24-hour time period, but that's ok. I know how to "tighten my belt" and I am assuring myself that it will work out fine.
As I was going through the back yard this morning and taking inventory of the plants that had survived through the summer's drought, I saw the most beautiful sight in my chrysanthemum bed. I posted a photo of it on Facebook this morning because I just couldn't believe what had happened to it. The photo, shown below, tells the story of about a dozen plants that had endured about the worst summer of heat and dry conditions ever. Just a couple of days ago, I had made up my mind they should just be pulled out to start all over again. God sent the rain, over 3 and a half inches of it to our town yesterday and miraculously enough~they look wonderful.
Talk about a plant "resurrection" well, these guys did! By mid-September, flowers of the most brilliant colors of red, orange, bronze, purple and yellow will burst forth putting on a "show" until nearly the frost returns. And to think, I almost gave up on them. I don't know for sure, but I think there's probably a lesson in there somewhere. Shoot, better just rephrase that....there IS a lesson to be learned in that about life and about ourselves as well.
And oh yeah, that "place to sit when I am gone"...ok, friends this is probably a "TMI" moment so if you are not inclined to enjoy reading those kinds of things...this would be a good place to stop. But for those of you who are reading on, let me explain.
I love limestone and because it is a "natural, not man-made" substance, I tend to use a lot of it in my backyard. From edging flower beds all the way to making a small patio of it, I've got it all over the place back there. A couple of years ago, I went to our local nursery and spent $100 to get the huge slab of limestone, plus two blocks to rest it upon, shown in the photo above. I wanted to make a "resting place" that I could use as I worked in the back. It provided a peaceful spot, for the most part, as I enjoyed being outdoors.
Shortly after purchasing the materials for my resting bench, I made the decision that I would be cremated when I died. My kids had explicit instructions that they were to take my ashes out on some beautiful summer day and sprinkle them underneath a beautiful and mighty Kansas Cottonwood. Only they had to do it on a day when the wind was blowing somewhat so they could hear the gentle "wooshing" sound that the cottonwood's leaves sing. And if I should die before the summertime months were here, then someone would have to take care of me until the best moment returned. Oh boy, I still remember the looks on their faces as they each shot the others a frantic glance that said "Hey no way~Mom's not staying with me!" I told them not to worry, that it would be fine. And if they wanted to remember me, just go sit on the bench in the back yard. That's how we left it.
Now it would have all stayed just like that had it not been for a chance conversation with one of the truest friends I have ever had in this life. Both he and I have had some interesting conversations about the merits of learning to swim, to NOT get a tattoo (LOL, sorry) and about the dispositions of our bodies when we die. Without going into details, our exchange of thoughts on the idea of scattering cremains was very different, in fact it was totally opposite. But the more I listened to his thoughts and reasoning I became convinced that asking my kids to go and dump out my ashes next to the cottonwood tree of their choice was probably not in the best interests of all concerned. So, I chose the next best option....
Some day into the future, perhaps next week or perhaps 40 years from now, someone is going to have to tote that bench over to Harvey County for me. It is going to be a part of my grave stone when I am laid to rest next to my great-great grandmother, Rebecca Burch in a tiny little Quaker cemetery just north of the city of Halstead. Instead of having to scatter my ashes, my children know to just place my urn in the ground and when they come to visit from time to time, they can have a seat on the bench and remember how it was that it came to be there.
Well the sun is out and the day is actually beautiful here in south central Kansas. I'm trading a lot of "daylight for dark" now, so I have to head back outside and continue cleaning, pitching stuff in the trash, and dreaming of the backyard that is meant to be. Have a beautiful day friends and family wherever you are in this world of ours. I surely am glad to count you as my good friends!
The descendants of my great-great grandmother, Rebecca Keys Burch, on Flag Day of 2006. We were there to witness the rededication of her grave by the local Daughters of the American Revolution. Great-great Grandmother was the last living pensioner of a soldier of the Revolutionary War. It was a wonderfully warm June 14th day and an opportunity to make a connection with a woman who had died nearly 125 years earlier. I didn't fully understand my heritage until I became much older. I respect and honor her memory. Some day I will be laid to rest right beside her. Can't think of a better "last spot on earth" to be.
No comments:
Post a Comment