Decorating the Garden

It's been a brutal spring--wet, cold, restraining. My garden is finally in bloom, but having peonies in flower when it's almost July is topsy-turvey crazy. Except for the potatoes in my square foot garden and my potted tomatoes, even my vegetables seem to be intimidated by their weather experience.

Thank God for garden art. Katz and I have enjoyed "decorating" our yard for many years, and each year something new moves in. A local metal/welding artist we've admired for years recently had a sale at prices we could afford and we bought a pair of abstract reindeer with giraffe legs and tiny heads. They make us smile.

When I was a child, my siblings and I had two amazing women in our lives. Auntie Pauline was sweet and quiet and made us fudge and morning buns to beat the band. Auntie Jo had the imagination of a child and the skills of a journeyman carpenter. She made toys and filled a huge walk up attic with her creations--trains you could ride, paper mache animal heads to sit on top your shoulder and transform you into another being, beautiful tin wind up toys, tree stumps made out of old telephone directories . . . the list goes on. Going to their home was like a trip to Disney World for most kids--magical.

They had a small garden, too, and their sense of whimsy carried over there. I like to think that the surprises and whimsy in our garden comes from them. They enjoyed life and loved us, and the joy and abandon they conveyed was a wonderful gift for a child. As things grow and the vista changes day-by-day outside my window, the playful pieces that are woven throughout the garden give it some weight and anchor it, pinning my past and entwining it with the future.