“I’m very much on the fence about starting a fire, tonight. I did gather kindling, and a few dry logs, watched them tumble from my arms, onto the copper hearth. The rain, has been off and on. The day’s been about preparing for guests, a short interlude at the rummage sale downtown, and returning a car. Downtown is a store, a church, a town hall, a sugar house, a fire station, a ball field, a historical society, a town clerk’s office, senior housing, free farm stand, and neighbors, who are either stuck there or generously living their best lives. Who hasn’t had bad neighbors, at least once. But, that said, who hasn’t been blessed by people nearby, who owed you nothing, and gave you everything? It’s a tear-jerker, actually. Yesterday, we pulled off another epic garden makeover, for a retired art teacher heading for a shoulder replacement. We also helped her deal with her pots. Terra cotta pots of size are heavy, and hers were still blooming profusely, overflowing with begonias, purple flowered rosemary, cotswold red geraniums, and hibiscus. It was a painful goodbye, for all involved, though we managed to downsize a few, for the indoors. Excess pots were emptied, at least partially, for storage. Our day ended, blithely, moving rocks. I don’t always know what I’m getting myself into, when I say “yes”. But I am the kind, to follow through, regardless. We’d noted the awkward relationship between a screened in porch, and two rose mallow shrubs. And now, were deep into it, wrenching stones from their original moorings, stones placed. likely, decades ago. Alright, and did I mention I urgently needed to be pick up my truck after an expensive repair, all the way down state, in Montpelier? I think there are likely some long-winded curses that might be inserted here, to describe the cluster F of events that terminated at a major car manufacturer dealership. I remember his off hand remark, Dennis, “I think you mentioned a tire store. That’s maybe not the best place to get your repairs.” Okay, Dennis, point well taken. I was ready to argue that, oh, no, actually, it’s more than “just” a tire store, but something stopped me. When I thought about it more deeply, well, it was a tire store. So. We have been working long hours, and honestly, I couldn’t be prouder of the work we do. A celebratory dinner was certainly in order - we couldn’t have too many. Having once been a fixture at Sarducci’s Italian restaurant, back in the days when someone took me out to dinner on the regular, it seemed time to go and splurge it up. On my dime. Cheers to Sarducci’s, and all its romantic swirl, which may have something to do with the sweet bounty of kindness, and affection, and cultural food honor. I benefit in all kinds of ways, from the purveyors of growth, within this unique, earth-bound system. I hug the diggers, the seed planters, the hoers, and the harvesters. The pickers, the preppers, the cooks and the waiters. And as to those who make sure flowers for the tables are refreshed, and never wilting, I step amongst you, and take a bow.”
