“How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.”- Winnie the Pooh
I went to the Big White House on Center St. for the last time today. After 3 months of hard work, sweat, packing, sorting, giving away, hauling and more tears than have ever been cried within those walls before, our beloved home of 25 years will become a new family’s home – tomorrow at 10 a.m. Our adventures there have ended and theirs will begin…We hope they love the house as much as we did and that she loves and shelters them as well as she did us.
Saying “Good bye” has been very, very hard. If I had $1 for every time I’ve used the term “bittersweet” over these past 3 months I’d be well on my way to that new dock we need for our new life at the lake (our current dock is rickety and poor…)
As I walked through that beautiful yard, fondly called Clark Park for its size and lushness, I was amazed. Did we do all this? It’s so pretty and peaceful and, with the exception of a few weeds, perfect. I don’t remember when our yard became this tribute to birds, bees, small beasties and native low maintenance perennials. But somehow we created this and it is marvelous.
When we first moved into the Big White House we were young, our kids were little and we were busy all of the time. We had vision, though, and I had a newfound fascination for all things Southern, as we had uprooted ourselves in a move from Colorado…What? Gardenias grow here naturally and bloom throughout the summer? What, what? There is a bush called a Camelia that blooms through the winter – big, delicious, bright colored blooms? And, what about those huge Hydrangeas? And, you can plant Peonies here and in a couple of years you will be cutting those wonderful pink and white pom- poms right out of your own yard? Amazing!
It felt like heaven. Money was tight, but every time I had an extra $5 or $10 I’d buy one of those precious plants - in the smallest version offered, because that’s all I could afford. Ed Bob/Mr. Clark would plant it and for the first few years I’d provide loving care in the form of bi-annual fertilizer and water as needed.
We were so busy with kids and work that we didn’t notice how our little plants grew bigger each year. We just kept expanding the yard as we had time and planting those small native perennials as we could afford them, feeding and watering them, giving them love, if only occasional attention.
Fast forward – our son graduates from high school, so we carve out an area for his graduation party and put in a few more of those paver stones and plants…Fast forward again, our daughter goes to college leaving us with, for the first time since the kids were born, time on our hands…The yard expansion began and by the time both kids graduated from college, Clark Park was in the making.
When our daughter got married many of the flowers for her wedding came from our yard. When our son said he’d like to be married in the yard we expanded and improved, adding a pergola under which the ceremony took place. For these special events, my sister, a professional gardener, added her touch and viola, Clark Park was born!
Mr. Clark was out of work during the 2008+ recession, so he joined me in the garden and soon he was churning out hot sauce, salsa, pasta sauces, pickled jalepenos and squash, all bottled under the name “Ed Bob’s – for good times and for bad.”
Ed Bob found a recipe for a delicious summer cocktail made with gin, muddled garden cucumbers and fresh mint. We made pickles from my farm Gramma’s recipe …Pretty soon what had been a hobby became an obsession and by the time Mr. Clark/Ed Bob was gainfully employed again, I was in charge of a 1,200 sq. ft. garden…We bought a dehydrator and cases and cases of bottles and jars. There were a few years there when all we did on weekends was hot sweaty garden work and bottle and can, while listening to the Braves, of course.
But, with the kids grown and Ed Bob’s work taking him out of town most of the week, the bounty of Clark Park began to feel like a burden - so much time spent trying to keep it in shape, so many weeds, so much to do…So, we began shaping our next dream/phase/adventure – a smaller house, a much smaller yard and garden – maybe something on the lake? A place that I could keep up with…a life that allowed for more leisure and less work.
By an odd series of events that felt like they were meant to be, we ended up with our new much smaller life in a log cabin on the lake a few months ago. A similar series of “it was meant to be’s” led our home’s new family to her and they are very excited indeed. As our life shrinks, theirs expands and yes, it really does feel like it was meant to be…
As I walked through Clark Park for the last time, I realized I could tell a story about each and every plant – why it was there, where I got it, how long it took to flourish and how proud I was of it today – but, there’s no one to tell those stories to. The people who were there have the same memories as mine and the new family will make memories of their own.
Some women make quilts, others do photo albums or scrapbooks; I made a park and in my mind it will always be full of the wonderful events and glorious years we had in our Big White House and the now verdant Clark Park.
The new family probably won’t have time to keep up with the care an entire park needs – when we were in their time of life, we barely had time to make sit-down meals, let alone water even a tiny patch of grass. But, those glorious native perennials will be there, waiting under those weeds until it’s time for them to come out again…Those Camellias will light up every dreary January and February…those Peonies will continue to thrive…and, even the busiest of young mothers has time to brighten her kitchen with a vase of those bright blue Hydrangeas…
The scent of Gardenias flooded the air today at Clark Park. I had forgotten how they sweeten the breeze over the Big White House that way all summer long…all those little Gardenias I planted over so many years…In my mind, Heaven smells just like that…
I’m not sure how to say, “Good bye,” to a park, but over the years I learned how to plant one…One plant at a time, $5 here, $10 there – a bit of fertilizer and water as needed…Keep after it, even as your busy life keeps after you and eventually you end up with something so amazing and marvelous that you’ll wonder how you managed to create such a thing…And, in the end, isn’t that the way we create so many wonderful things – not just parks.
