"A Postscript"

One of the first entries I made in this blog was in memory of a client, Dorothy aka Dot. I was working in Dorothy's backyard today cleaning up debris when my eyes caught some Spring growth, way down in the corner of her back yard, what she called her "meadow." Dorothy had shown me her artwork before and explained to me how it happened to be there, but that was while she was alive. Seeing it again after she has been gone for almost a year and a half was a surprise treat.

Tucked down in the far corner of Dorothy's backyard you can see the spiky vegetation of grape hyacinths growing up and the word LOVE. The story goes that she was planting the bulbs and ran out of places to plant before she ran out of bulbs. Only Dorothy would lay them out to make a statement and dig them in, watching the message repeat itself year after year.   

I'm not sure how many people have been privy to this delightful sight. The only way it can really be seen is from the kitchen window above her sink, two stories up, or from the deck just off the kitchen. I suspect she did it on purpose. "Peter does the cooking, I do the dishes," she would say, and from that vantage point she could easily admire her handiwork. 

The backyard is filled with grape hyacinths now, as they multiply readily, becoming weed-like. The exception is that the individual letters have remained fully visible except where the "E" has been crowded by the forsythia. 

As I spent my time working I found myself thinking about that word "LOVE" and the message Dorothy shared. Those thoughts centered on the fact that "God is love." 

I decided I would spare you my dissertation on love. Instead, I'm going to share the picture with you and leave each of you to your own thoughts.

This much I know: Dorothy physically left over a year ago, and yet she has left her mark. As I stated in my original tribute, "What a way to live!  What a way to die!" By the way, I knew, had she been alive, she would have been praising my great strength as I man-handled a redwood branch into my truck.  :)  

Only Dorothy...