Winding Down

Not every sunset is spectacular. Sometimes the sun just fades into grey. My cleaning and digging frenzy has sent so much dust and debris into the air that the normal Trade Winds high pressure system has moved and we are having a strange summer Kona Wind. The air is humid, hazy and thick. It reminds me of Florida in the summer time. Not pleasant. We are at least fortunate that it is only 85 degrees, not 95 like it would be there.


















The plants are pouring out of the nursery, so much so that some of them are actually jumping out of the ground in the hopes that they will survive in new homes. I don't want to be judgmental or too negative, but after sixteen years of observation of the real owners of what will be the remains of my garden I don't hold much hope for this place once I am gone.

With out a gardener there is no garden.

I am more than pleased to cash out on all my hard work and efforts. Cha-ching.

The household rubbish only trickles away. I am not sure I recommend putting your old used things in the full sun out on the drive. They looked so nice, arranged and tidy inside, quite tasteful. In the glaring sun their defects are revealed. One dolla only please.


















The ancient (1992) stone monument that once graced an oval shaped variegated St. Augustine lawn has begun to re-emerge as the nursery withers away.















Two long intersecting lines of heavy stones marched upright across the lawn and into the beds, pointing to something. They make you wonder. What?


















Amidst the toil and destruction, cheerful reminders, new weeds I hope, sparkle and smile at me, making the work a time of gratitude.
















More ominous days lie ahead. The tree that saved itself is all that remains on and under the deck, the only shade to be had there. Once I sever its main root, if it does not have a new home, it may die. I let it live until the last moment.















Two ancient felines also live until the last bit of time is gone. Euthanasia delivered is $250 a pop. I have decided they deserve the honor for love freely given. Their last moments will be napping in their garden domain and not a scary ride in a car.





















By then more open ground will be exposed as the nursery's weed cloth comes up. A new bed of tough perennial flowers would be easy to put in to mark a spot and once again frame the shape of a lawn.


















The other weeds, some even pretty ones that I have long let run and hop through the garden, wait for the Terracotta Army of Maui to fade into history and claim their space. There are no more reinforcements. I think. I hope. They, like the plants, have been marching up the driveway looking for new homes.



















A new garden of weeds and the tough Lily of de Nile. Top it off with plenty Rain Lilies, some Papyrus from the River of de Nile and several ancient stone monuments and it's a theme. I think I like that.


















For the most part this has been a very wonderful experience. The people coming down my drive to fondle my things have been very pleasant and kind.

There have been a few of course where I just felt like saying.....


















That is not what I will remember the most though.