The Genius Loci, Step 2
This is the day after Easter, and in the past ten days we have had fabulous weather, inspiring not only my own expected urges to work in the garden, but Steve's as well. The model home developers had a pile of leftover lightly-used lumber, and told us to take as much as we wanted. So we did and thus we came into possession of several 16', 12', 10', and 8' boards of various dimensions, both treated and cedar. My mind immediately went to "ARBORS!" and Steve, who pays attention more than most men, also thought along those lines, knowing that I've wanted an arbor over the deck for many years.
He has been losing weight steadily, and has been going on almost-daily five-mile vigorous walks up and down the dunes along the lake. The weather was so nice and it made him feel even better to be working outside, so we put up the arbor over the deck, and made a smaller one for the end of the path to the mailbox. He also took it on himself to wash the front of the house, which was still grubby from the dust from our neighbor's earth-moving project last year. He is currently working on refashioning the sections of lattice screening that used to be on the deck into a screen for the trash and recycling bins, which have been moved from one side of the property to the other. The bins have been next to the office and gallery entry, which just isn't professional, and he is very happy to have them out of there.
I fixed dinner for my parents and Nick and Amy yesterday, and everything tasted good in spite of some scheduling screw-ups on my part. I made a ham, our first in months and months, and made scalloped potatoes in the new slow cooker. Mom brought a big vanilla pudding for dessert, which made such a nice light change from the usual pie. The conversation was lively the whole time, and we got some more details about the plans for the wedding. Everyone left by 3 p.m., and we were able to sit together and watch the first two episodes of "Tales of the City" on dvd, a program that Steve and our friends said I would really like, but which I hadn't seen before. They were right.
Today is an art day, and I plan to make one of my garden sculptures. There were several 4 x 4 pieces in the aforementioned lumber pile, and I'm going to make several small and medium-size pieces for the Art Fair. This first one, though, will be fairly large, as it is going to go on the front porch where the rocking chair used to be (the rocker is now on the main deck under the arbor, with the rest of the deck chairs).
This, finally, gets to the part about the genius loci. The spirit of the place is working through us both, and the results have been immediately evident, and completely positive. It's also drawing people here like a magnet, and on several occasions (already!) there have been groups of people spontaneously gathered under the arbor sipping coffee and debating current politics. And I'm talking about businessmen, not slackers or hippies or eccentrics. Imagine that--businessmen spontaneously gathered under an arbor in a cottage garden and feeling completely at ease. Something is Afoot!
He has been losing weight steadily, and has been going on almost-daily five-mile vigorous walks up and down the dunes along the lake. The weather was so nice and it made him feel even better to be working outside, so we put up the arbor over the deck, and made a smaller one for the end of the path to the mailbox. He also took it on himself to wash the front of the house, which was still grubby from the dust from our neighbor's earth-moving project last year. He is currently working on refashioning the sections of lattice screening that used to be on the deck into a screen for the trash and recycling bins, which have been moved from one side of the property to the other. The bins have been next to the office and gallery entry, which just isn't professional, and he is very happy to have them out of there.
I fixed dinner for my parents and Nick and Amy yesterday, and everything tasted good in spite of some scheduling screw-ups on my part. I made a ham, our first in months and months, and made scalloped potatoes in the new slow cooker. Mom brought a big vanilla pudding for dessert, which made such a nice light change from the usual pie. The conversation was lively the whole time, and we got some more details about the plans for the wedding. Everyone left by 3 p.m., and we were able to sit together and watch the first two episodes of "Tales of the City" on dvd, a program that Steve and our friends said I would really like, but which I hadn't seen before. They were right.
Today is an art day, and I plan to make one of my garden sculptures. There were several 4 x 4 pieces in the aforementioned lumber pile, and I'm going to make several small and medium-size pieces for the Art Fair. This first one, though, will be fairly large, as it is going to go on the front porch where the rocking chair used to be (the rocker is now on the main deck under the arbor, with the rest of the deck chairs).
This, finally, gets to the part about the genius loci. The spirit of the place is working through us both, and the results have been immediately evident, and completely positive. It's also drawing people here like a magnet, and on several occasions (already!) there have been groups of people spontaneously gathered under the arbor sipping coffee and debating current politics. And I'm talking about businessmen, not slackers or hippies or eccentrics. Imagine that--businessmen spontaneously gathered under an arbor in a cottage garden and feeling completely at ease. Something is Afoot!
posted by meg at 9:17 AM
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