Thursday, November 1, 2007

Leaving Queens


I am actually doing two posts tonight - two photographs to choose from, for one blog. So the story she told me is that she has lived in this house for 28 years with her husband, and has raised 4 children here. Her friends are in the neighborhood, and she can walk to stores and transporation, and so she can go anywhere she wants. She has spent these 28 years working on the gardens all around her house. The size of the plot is not large, but she has used every available area to plant a lawn and gardens. There are little hidden areas, one with a bench surrounded by taller trees and plantings where she can quietly contemplate the beauties of her garden. Behind the house, she has a storage shed where she keeps gardening equipment. And to brighten this shed, she has painted two scenes of nature on it. I think it was her attempt to make this dull building prettier that touched me. But here is the killer... She said her husband is tired of the cold and of shoveling snow, so he insists on moving to Florida. This woman is really uneasy, having to leave the neighborhood she knows so well, her friends, and the gardens she has worked on all her life. I hope it goes well for her, but it makes me really uneasy to hear of her having to leave this home where she has spent so much of her life.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Greet the day with hope and happiness, for each new morning is a gift, no matter where we are. Florida can be heaven for a gardener. I hope she find herself giddy with excitment from all the tropical plantings she'll discover in her adopted home.