Envelope addressed and stamped (that was the slow part last time, with the Camp Shakespeare check -- it's hard for a web 2.0 dude to wrustle up postage in this day and age!).
Check book (more 20th century technology, sigh) at home -- but I'll put the whole kittenkaboodle in the mail tomorrow.
Love, DZ
> From:
jayres@cvctx.com> To:
weeklong-l@lists.wikimedia.org> Date: Thu, 17 Mar 2011 17:33:02 -0700
> Subject: Re: [Weeklong-l] Virginia's Roses
>
> P.O. Box 202 Round Top, TX 78954.
>
> Doc
>
>
>
> On Mar 17, 2011, at 11:39 AM, McDonald G. wrote:
>
> > Dear Doc,
> >
> > I'd like to send money for the roses. Could you remind me of your
> > mailing address? I wish I could have been there.
> >
> > Love,
> > Gail
> > ________________________________________
> > From:
weeklong-l-bounces@lists.wikimedia.org [
weeklong-l-bounces@lists.wikimedia.org > > ] On Behalf Of James Ayres [
jayres@cvctx.com]
> > Sent: 16 March 2011 02:22
> > To:
weeklong-l@lists.wikimedia.org> > Subject: Re: [Weeklong-l] Virginia's Roses
> >
> > And that's the way it was.
> >
> >
> > On Mar 15, 2011, at 5:00 PM, Clay Stromberger wrote:
> >
> >> Thanks for the note, Doc, and for bringing all the moving parts
> >> together so perfectly.
> >>
> >> This sport, well carried, SHALL be chronicled.
> >>
> >> Though I also think that as always Doc's concrete and brief
> >> chronicle of the time says it very well. But perhaps there are a
> >> few other moments to recall and pass along.... so here's a note to
> >> those that we love and to them that love us. We want you all there
> >> for the next planting project.
> >>
> >>
> >> It was a gloriously cool and sunny verge-of-spring morning, very
> >> fitting for such a special person as Virginia Elverson. The birds
> >> were talking all at once, as Townes Van Zandt used to sing. I even
> >> saw a bright red cardinal in the Barn, perched atop a metal folding
> >> chair, when I went in there to change out of my longjohns (it was
> >> warming up by then). As Doc said at one point with a grin, "Some of
> >> these folks haven't been out here before when it's nice." The grass
> >> was so soft and lush that Willa, 10, could not resist springing into
> >> a few cartwheels, which inspired Emma, 8, to try the same. Mini-
> >> lessons from Willa ensued, but must be continued at a future date,
> >> as Emma still hasn't perfected that essential skill of girlhood.
> >>
> >> Backing up a bit: Aug, Em and I arrived a bit late to the lovely
> >> sight of a whole line of folks working hard along the fence line
> >> (first in view: Maggie in her broad gardening hat and shades),
> >> enlarging the perfectly round post-holes dug by Doc (how did he do
> >> it? Those digger things are heavy. The holes were all perfectly
> >> shaped...!). In the classic Winedale tradition, everyone pitched
> >> in and figured out what needed to be done and brought their
> >> particular gifts to bear as needed. Jeff and Stan were the old
> >> gardening hands when it came to such things as setting up the
> >> irrigation system Doc envisioned (a long plastic hose running the
> >> length of the fence, with little smaller lines plugged in at
> >> intervals to run off and drip water at the base of each particular
> >> rose) and finding the right mix of mulch and dirt and "root food".
> >> Joy was resplendent in a bright white longsleeved shirt and red
> >> bandana as she fussed happily over her digging project. It was
> >> great to see Augie and Finlay, fellow "Midsummer" Campers last
> >> summer, working side by side again. Susan and Maggie kicked off the
> >> rose songs spontaneously at some point, shovels in hand (final tune
> >> was "Love is a Rose," Linda Rondstadt's cover of the Neil Young
> >> original, which Emma was too shy to sing solo, but Susan convinced
> >> her to sing one line with me and then the rest of the crew repeated
> >> it while shoveling the leftover compost into the back of Doc's
> >> pickup). Finlay and mom Liz looked up the colors of the different
> >> roses, and, at Doc's suggestion, lined them up to ensure a variety
> >> of color as you drive or walk or bicycle past later this spring.
> >>
> >> Part of the fun of digging is the occasional surprise you find.
> >> Exhibit #1 was an old horseshoe (muleshoe?) that Will discovered --
> >> time for an archeological dig at Winedale? Then Jeff found some old
> >> iron nails in a few other holes and began to wonder if the folks
> >> who'd planted the original roses had put these things in there to
> >> add some iron to the soil...? Any of you History Detectives out
> >> there have a clue on that one? Not sure where the horseshoe ended
> >> up, but I hope it can eventually find a home in the Barn. Meanwhile
> >> Willa and Emma set the record for finding the most grubs -- eight, I
> >> believe (six of them alive!), which they named "Harry," and then
> >> "Harry II," "Harry III".... an little unconscious touch of
> >> Shakespeare in the morning.
> >>
> >> Elroy, the jovial groundskeeper with the musical drawl and the bushy
> >> grey mustache under his glasses, was a huge help, zipping around in
> >> the white Winedale pickup and providing us with tools and a
> >> wheelbarrow.
> >>
> >> This was the kind of work that allowed for catching up with your
> >> neighbor the next rose-bush over. I found out that high school
> >> senior Noah Sgovio, whom most of you will remember from his always-
> >> wonderful "I do much wonder..." speech this summer, is headed off to
> >> UT in August as a philosophy major and theater minor. Perfect for
> >> one of the best Hamlets ever to lecture Horatio in the Barn. Will
> >> and Augie riffed in fine teenage-boy form on the word "clod" while
> >> piling excess dirt on the little red wagon.
> >>
> >> At some point we finally looked up and saw the work was done, and it
> >> was good, and the water was dripping. So Doc and Maggie headed for
> >> Mercantile for sandwiches (Maggie's treat) and after some chatting I
> >> suggested a hike to MacGregor House. A group of us headed that way
> >> and soon came upon one of those I-wish-I-had-my-camera images: Jeff
> >> and Susan sitting in the two memorial benches under the stately
> >> pines, the bright green meadow beyond them. Jeff had his jaunty
> >> straw riverboat-gambler hat on, and had his right arm looped over
> >> the back of Henry Wilkinson's bench on the left as they talked;
> >> Susan sat in the beautiful new bench on the right. Ah, I realized,
> >> the bench for Lizz that Matt told us about. An "On Golden Pond"
> >> moment (yes, we are heading into those golden years...). We all
> >> stood around and talked about how to arrange all of our future
> >> memorial benches. Susan wanted a circle that extended into the
> >> meadow; Jeff pointed out how this might make mowing difficult.
> >> Susan countered with the idea of a trail extending into the meadow
> >> to sort of anchor the benches; Joy suggested a labyrinth in the
> >> center (vetoed). We then segued inevitably into a discussion about
> >> the Winedale Retirement Complex and then set out for MacGregor.
> >>
> >> We wondered how we'd know when Doc and Maggie were back -- well, of
> >> course, we heard a distant pealing as Doc rang the bell by the
> >> Barn. I raced Augie back (still can beat him, ha ha! -- though not
> >> much longer...) -- and then followed my second camera-pang moment,
> >> as I looked back and saw, like something out of a film (my Michael
> >> Barker influence kicking in), the players of the day heading my way
> >> across the broad green meadow, at varying distances, singly or in
> >> pairs, gesturing (Jeff to Joy I think) or skipping (Emma) or
> >> strolling and laughing.... but all set against that green in the
> >> sunlight, so peaceful and beautiful, no one in a hurry. I just had
> >> to stare at it for a moment. Not sure a photo could capture that,
> >> really.
> >>
> >> We wrapped the day up with lunch at the picnic tables and yes, at
> >> Stan's smiling insistence, a four-person (one line each) reading of
> >> the Stein poem sent by Mary.
> >>
> >> What did I miss, fellow early-rosers?
> >>
> >> Augie told me afterwards back at home, in his classic Augie way of
> >> making little pronouncements out of the blue, "Dad, you know, it
> >> felt good to be out at Winedale, working on planting the roses....
> >> I'm not sure why, it just felt good to be doing that."
> >>
> >> Yep. You said it, buddy.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> cheers,
> >>
> >> cs
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> On Mar 15, 2011, at 6:42 PM, James Ayres wrote:
> >>
> >>> We planted 14 roses for Virginia this morning. Look for Clayton's
> >>> chronicle of the event. Thanks to Kirsten, Joy, Maggie, Susan,
> >>> Clayton and son Augie and daughter Emma, Jeff and son Will, Noah
> >>> Sgovio and Finlay Scanlon (Camp Shakespeare kids), Willa and Liz
> >>> (Finlay's sister and mom), we completed the task with rose songs
> >>> and a
> >>> reading of Mary's rose poem.
> >>>
> >>> We set up a "Rose for Virginia" sponsorship to defray the costs of
> >>> the
> >>> antique roses, the compost, and the watering system we put in
> >>> place.
> >>> Should any of you wish to sponsor a rose for Virginia, please send
> >>> me
> >>> a check for $30.00. We planted 14 roses. And have already 6
> >>> sponsorships.
> >>>
> >>> We had great weather and great fun.
> >>>
> >>> Doc
> >>>
> >>> _______________________________________________
> >>> Weeklong-l mailing list
> >>>
Weeklong-l@lists.wikimedia.org> >>>
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/weeklong-l> >>
> >> Clayton Stromberger
> >> Outreach Coordinator, UT Shakespeare at Winedale
> >> College of Liberal Arts, University of Texas at Austin
> >>
www.shakespeare-winedale.org> >> cell: 512-363-6864
> >> UT Sh. at W. office: 512-471-4726
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> _______________________________________________
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> >>
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> >
> >
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