Perfect Pole Project

 

     For over a year now, I have been admiring the vibrant art poles livening up the garden of a neighbourhood residence, nestled alongside the forest.  I tried sourcing them online and looking for them at garden centres, to no avail. Then a few weeks ago, I mentioned the art poles to an acquaintance who lives in the area and happens to be an art teacher.  She suggested I could try making some myself using PVC piping and outdoor acrylic paints. Sounded easy enough, a fun project my granddaughter and I could play with at the cabin.  I already had the paints so all I needed now was some piping. 

     On the Saturday before our trip up, I thought about driving down to the hardware store to buy some but decided I needed a little more time to consider diameter and length I might need. My husband and I could go the following day, when we would be out and about anyway.  

     Sunday morning, over breakfast on the back patio, I mentioned the art pole project to my husband and told him about my idea of grabbing some piping later that day.  His comment, delivered very matter-of-factly: " There's a piece of it lying on the front boulevard." What? Really?  Turned out he had noticed it the day before, while mowing the lawn but left it there. Still in my housecoat, I walked around to where our driveway meets the road and sure enough, there on the northeast corner of the property lay a 3 metre length of PVP piping!  It had somehow cleared the concrete barrier separating the sidewalk from the street and landed on our grass.  Hardly believing what I was seeing, I walked over, picked it up and returned to our patio. With a sense of wonderment, I spelled it out for my husband. In all my 62 years, this was the first time I had ever thought about buying a piece of PVC piping.  And in all my 62 years, this was the first time I had ever come across a piece of PVC piping lying in my yard. For these two events to meet up here and now, was sheer perfection. And yes, we had tons of fun painting the art poles which now adorn both our cabin property, and my granddaughter's backyard.

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Tiny Taste

Now deep into fall, with its cool nights and noticably shorter days, a most welcomed sight endures in my garden.  Heading into this last week of possibly the sunniest October ever, the raspberry canes continue to produce luscious, red berries.  Sweet bursts of delight still offer themselves up for the taking.  A tiny taste of summer lingers.

A Special Rose

One of the many fabulous aspects of the garden at our new home is a large and plentiful strawberry patch.  Whether I am popping out barefoot in my housecoat to pick berries for breakfast or going out later in the day to gather some for a salad, I feel gratitude for these tasty gifts of nature.  An odd feature of this space, however, is that in the centre of this dense strawberry patch grows one large, lone, red rose.  This vibrant, large-petalled blossom stands elegantly poised above its small, red neighbours.  When I first noticed this rose, I imagined more would follow, but it remains the one and only.  Gazing upon this scene, I am reminded of Antoine de Saint Exupéry's The Little Prince story wherein the only large flower blooming on the prince's small planet is a single red rose.  He tends to this flower faithfully, all the while believing it to be the only one in existence.  Then, while visiting Earth, he is shocked to realize this is not the case when he sees thousands of roses in just one garden.  However, evetually he recognizes that it is because of his deep friendship with that one red rose on his planet that makes her so special, and he appreciates her even more.  And so it is here in this garden - each and every time I pick berries from that strawberry patch, my heart smiles at this special rose, the only one in this entire garden. 

Brighter Days

Despite these grey and damp skies, the unmistakable presence of hope exists.  Noticing a multitude of spring's early signs.  Well ahead of the official date, still four weeks away.  Appreciating clusters of delicate snowdrops in a neighbour's garden.  Passing by bushes profusely adorned with pink hued buds.  Grateful for the masses of daffodils inching their way closer to flowering.  Surprisingly spotting an early blooming cherry tree yesterday afternoon.  All this new life, combined with increasing daylight, attempting to brighten the days with optimism and cheer.