These guys.
The joy that these two bring me is beyond explanation…
I love their willingness to work.
I love their simple, honest approach to life.
I love their innocence and joy.
I love seeing them smile and be proud for a job well done.
I truly love Garden Project days. Today just seemed extra beautiful. Maybe it was the weather….not too cold and not squelching hot. Maybe it was the projects we were working on. Maybe it was the time I carved out in my schedule to be completely present, and garden alongside them. Whatever the reason(s), today was a beautiful day with the Garden Project.
For the last few months, I had become mentally obsessed with removing the old fencing that divided the once separated properties. After purchasing and tearing down the old, drug and flea-invested farmhouse, I couldn’t help but see the properties unified once again. I wavered back and forth, as I usually do on things until I make a spontaneous decision.
Today was the day.
The guys helped me with tearing down the old fencing. Damian, who helps with the special Opportunities Center, was fully on board.
“I just happen to have tools that can help in my truck. Come on, Mike! Let’s go get em!”
I was beyond thrilled. Meanwhile, Tony and I did everything from pulling up the spent Cow Pen Daisies, collecting eggs, mulching a garden bed with hay from the chicken coop and telling awful jokes. Tony tells some type of joke at the beginning of every single sentence he says…..that is a lot of joking material. It is also a lot of courtesy laughs that i have to make sure to muster up. It is important that his jokes dont go unwarrented. It is who he is. Michael, on the other hand, always has to remind me that the villains in movies aren’t real.
“Miss Keenan, did you know that The Joker isn’t real?”
I always answer the same way with reassurance.
“That is right, Michael. The Joker isn’t real. Now let’s get back to work.” And we both laugh. Every work day, it’s a different villain or monster, but the response is always the same. Now it is a little game we play.
It is such a pleasure watching the property at the Agape Haus Music Studio be restored. The large 300 year old Oak Tree will no longer have a fence under her branches, dividing her roots between two properties. The chickens will be free to roam. The gardens will stretch their arms out between all four lots, in a cohesive manner. No more haphazardly thrown together areas of bulbs and flowers, stuck here and there, to hide the ugly fencing.
Life at the Agape Haus is always in the process of being restored….whether it is an old Oak Tree who is once again whole, a duck who learns to stand up and walk, an orphaned pigeon who attaches itself to his human momma, or a wounded soul who gets to start healing through learning music. Restoration can be found in many places, but I always can find glimpses of beautiful restoration every single time I have the Garden Project.
Some days are just more beautiful than other days, and today was one of those days. If you’d like information on how you can help support Tony, Mike and other Garden Helpers in the gardens, please email me at heirloombulbgirl@gmail.com
Happy Gardening, my friends!