House on the corner. Famous in the neighborhood for at one time housing local band the Cold War Kids and their legendary late-night poker parties. Bare, packed earth, a memory of lawn haunting the hardscrabble front yard. A single boxwood sphere, the lone relic of a bygone garden, managed to eke out a rotund, dense, and surprisingly healthy existence near the foundation in spite of such malevolent neglect, and always had a cheering effect on me as I turned the corner into my street. I often thought of asking permission to dig it up, since no one seemed to care anyway, and over the years — at least 20 years that I know of, but possibly quite a few more — it had managed to grow under such lean and spiteful conditions into a beautiful, tight green orb, about 4X4. Today, after years of inattention, a new landscape was installed, possibly signaling a change in landlords, and guess what got the boot? Yep, that boxwood sphere that defied the odds for so many years was scrapped, cast aside in a broken heap. I nearly piled into an oncoming car as I turned that corner coming home from work last night to find the cheerful survivor struck down. Damn, I should’ve asked.
Photo found here.
Cold War Kids “Something Is Not Right With Me”
Shoulda indeedy.
The ignored derelict house on our street has also been undergoing a transformation. Torn back to the studs inside and rebuilt. They completely removed the lawn and reseeded. I figured the brick planter full of Dracunculus vulgaris was toast. I stopped once to ask the workers if I could dig them rather than have them trashed, they said the owner would be around in the afternoon and I’d have to ask him. I never did manage to stop again. When I saw them repairing the brick I figured it was too late. But guess what! They left them be!
Loree, glad to hear a happy ending!