The Garden on the Wall

Michael has been battling that old squirrel that insists that our house is its house.  He gets one spot fixed and the squirrel just moves to another area.  As much as I hate to admit it, this squirrel might be meeting a dire end if it does not move on to a different nesting area.  Pop would have never tolerated it the first time and we would have dined on squirrel stew the first evening!  One of the places that Michael had to attack was the outdoor closet.  Here the squirrel had felt quite at home and made a cozy nesting spot in some old Easter grass that was stored there.   Michael ripped off the side and cleared out the entire closet.  Needless to say, the squirrel did not like all of the extra space in its home so it moved.

Today, Mark and I were out inspecting Michael's handiwork when he pointed out the artwork on the side of the closet.  Elizabeth and I had an impulse artistic attack one day back when she was a preteen.  Armed with assorted paints and brushes, we painted the wall.  Not being ones that can leave anything to be so boring as one color, we painted a "garden on the garden closet"!  Peace Lilies, Jasmine and Lilacs soon appeared on the wall.  We stood back and admired our artwork!  Beautiful!  But something was lacking, so we added a birdbath, a spiderweb, some butterflies and assorted other critters.  Some of these creatures were obvious but others were only seen if a person really studied the wall.  Frogs and snakes were hidden under the leaves  and ladybugs and grasshoppers blended well with the colors of the wall.

Some folks would say that this is an eyesore but I like it.  It has stood the test of time and the ravages of several hurricanes.  Now, though, it must come down.  The Garden on the Wall will be there no longer.  In a way, this makes me sad.  Even though the colors are beginning to fade and the paint is beginning to peel, I have grown attached to the scene.  It will seem most unusual to walk the garden path and not see the bright white Peace Lilies always blooming.  I am almost tempted to salvage the two pieces of plywood that hold the artwork.  Perhaps I can use it somewhere else?  Maybe a privacy screen can be incorporated into the garden?  Or maybe a new closet can be built to hold the gardening tools?  (One that will be squirrel-proof!)  Anyway, I had a momentary tinge of despair when I thought of losing something that Elizabeth and I had done together so many years ago.  Or, hey!  Perhaps I can sweet-talk her into helping me paint another mural!  Hmmmmm?