The Greatest Gift rerun

My husband, referred to as Walker for this post since Little Walker is at camp, gave me the greatest gift today. For the whole day, we did exactly what I wanted to do. No we didn't go antiquing or shopping for diamonds. We worked in the yard. This gift is even more precious because I know that he'd rather be shot than do yard work. We've been pecking away at some overdue tasks this year because we both had major surgeries last year.

I believe it was April a year ago on our anniversary that I told him that the only thing in the world I wanted was rocks. Not the glitzy kind that he had given me for Christmas, although I feel really cute when I wear my sparkly earrings, but real rocks for my garden. I repeated the request again for my birthday last October and at Christmas this year. For one reason or another, mostly my not feeling like dealing with something so overwhelming most of the time, I didn't get my rocks until this summer.

One nice day in early June we hauled me into the pickup truck and went to the rock place. I shopped around for about two minutes and picked out a nice pallet of medium sized rocks that had lots of mossy character. As the guy loaded the big, and I mean really big, bundle onto the truck, I felt the truck sink. Oh my! Those rocks were not only going to have to go down I 40 to get home, they would have to be unloaded before the truck was usable and although Walker owns a tractor with a lift, it was at the farm, not at home. Those rocks were going to have to come off one by one.

I got on the phone when we got home, and found a couple of workmen we have used on occasion to help us out, and by the next day they, and Walker had unloaded the rocks. In the process Walker had made a pretty little path up to the small "memorial garden" where my 60th birthday bench that the girls gave me gives me a quiet place to catch my breath. My sweet dog Lilly is buried right next to my bench. Her successor, Charlie, sits beside me, happy to have me scratch under his neck, just like Lilly.

Today, we got another area of the yard all tidied up and finished, at least for a while. Walker and I both trimmed hedges and pulled weeds for most of the day. I stayed in my bathing suit all day, because I simply could not have taken the heat without a drenching every couple of hours.

I hope that one day soon I'll return the favor and do just what Walker wants to do for a whole day. For tonight, I'll go to see Indiana Jones with him. His choice, not mine this time.
Blessings,
Janie