----- Original Message -----

From: Clay Stromberger

To: weeklong-l@lists.wikimedia.org

Sent: Tuesday, March 15, 2011 7:00 PM

Subject: Re: [Weeklong-l] Virginia's Roses

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
>
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> Weeklong-l@lists.wikimedia.org
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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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