In mid-2010, E and I bought a house built in the mid-1930's, together with a little acreage. Much of the land was overgrown with ivy and with wisteria - some of the vines bigger around than my forearm. We set about liberating trees and shrubs from the overgrowth.
We found things. An old sundial garden. The stacked stone wall. Birdbaths.
At various places on the property, there are hedges and patches of large boxwood - many of them 12+ feet tall - some of them transplanted from other places by the original owner of the property. In a sense, we live in a Boxwood Garden.
In one overgrown area at the back of the property, my wife found the remains of a smaller boxwood garden. It had been used to cultivate and grow boxwoods from the mature plants ruling the property. We are still restoring that area and making new finds everyday.
The story of the Boxwood Garden: the original owner had helped farm this land and its surrounding lots when he was a boy. When a developer bought the farm and subdivided it for homes, he knew he wanted to build here.
He made his living in the carting business but his calling was with the land. He took cuttings from his boxwoods and created the garden in back to let them grow to a height of 18 - 24 inches. Then he dug them up and sold them to people throughout the area. The story is that he made enough money doing that to send both his children to college.
As we clear the land and improve and nurse its plants to health, I am also clearing my mind and heart and moving into the final phase of my life on this planet. And when I drive around the area and see old boxwoods - I wonder how many of them started their life in the Boxwood Garden. I still have work to do and my calling is with the land.
In more than 30 years of life as a priest in the Episcopal Church, I often had people listen to things I said and read things I wrote and tell me that in some way my words linked to things in their lives and helped them to see things in different ways.
So I dig. I prune. I plant. I write.
And I play, too.
Welcome to the Boxwood Garden.
