I Never Promised You a Rose Garden
Sue was right. Ben Schlappig is the professional flier featured in The Week--not my nephew, Hans Mast. I posted it because so much of what described Ben could have applied to Hans as well, and I thought it would have been fun if The Week really had written about Hans. Too bad The Week hadn't heard about him. The people who guessed Hans as the person being described confirmed for me that others saw it as I did.
If I had quoted the little article completely, the fact that it was NOT Hans would have become apparent. Here is an example: "Schlappig first got involved at 15, when his parents would drop him off at the airport on Saturday morning and return to collect him on Sunday night. Now he earns hundreds of thousands of dollars blogging about what he calls the Hobby, and averages six hours a day in the air."
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Hiromi sometimes warbles this line from a song: "I Never Promised You a Rose Garden." I don't think he knows any of the other words, or at least he doesn't sing them often enough for me to have learned them. He might feel compelled to sing it again if I ever start pining for a rose garden of my own like the one I was in last night.
LaVerne and Rebecca invited us over last evening, and we spent our time in the "Anja Miller Memorial Rose Garden" in their backyard. It was a lovely evening in a lovely place.
The garden was Kathy T.'s brainchild, I believe, and Judy M. and Jo Y. helped mobilize the effort to create it. Interested people donated money to buy the roses, structures, furniture, supplies, and utilities. Others donated ideas and labor. People in their small group from church and students in the Home Environment class at Pilgrim helped.
Laverne and Rebecca, of course, worked the hardest of all (and probably paid the most) to create the garden. It's been almost two years since their 18-year-old daughter Anja died instantly in a car accident. For people who were close to the family, 9/10 is the new 9/11--a day of disbelief, horror, and grief. This year, however, for the first time, people who wish to remember Anja can go somewhere besides the accident site or the cemetery--at least if LaVerne and Rebecca are up to having guests. They can go to a rose garden.
The garden is located in the spot that used to be the vegetable garden--southeast of the house. It has a wide-open view to the sunrise all year round, and, for most of the year, a view of the sunset as well. LaVerne and Rebecca usually spend early mornings in the rose garden.
The transformation from bare ground to rose garden has taken place entirely since last winter. To the Home Environment class, LaVerne supplied a drawing of the dimensions of the area to be developed, and located within it the site for the gazebo that someone had offered to donate. He and Rebecca also informed us of several other features that people had offered to contribute--a garden bench, and a fountain. The class then began experimenting with designs for locating plants, paths, and various other features within the garden. LaVerne and Rebecca decided on one of the student-submitted designs that I had modified only slightly. It was a four-sectioned "wheel" with a path around the perimeter, a fountain at the hub, and four paths dividing the wheel into quadrants. The main path through the garden led directly from a spot on the perimeter of the rectangular garden area, through a path circling the fountain, and straight ahead to the entrance of the gazebo. The other paths in the wheel created right angles to the main path.
Since Rebecca is partial especially to pink and red roses, we designated pink as the main rose color in two opposite sections of the wheel, and red for the other two. A few white roses are interspersed with the other colors, and a few pinks appear with the reds, and vice versa. Outside the wheel are sections for other colors--purples in one, yellow with the mums in the corner facing the road, and peach, orange and coral behind and around the gazebo. Climbing roses are planted at the base of trellises on opposite sides of the octagonal gazebo. The back "wall" of the garden is formed of redwood lattice--fairly tall--and fronted with pampas grass. Other grasses and perennials and a few small shrubs are mixed in with the plantings outside the circle. The beds are mulched with attractive organic material--shredded bark, maybe. The paths are surfaced with pea-sized rounded-off rocks in the lovely mixture of colors they come in straight out of the gravel pits along rivers in the area.
One fairly sizeable gravel-covered area contains a fire ring. Thick marble slabs collected a long time ago by LaVerne's father are to form benches around the fire ring. A lattice-covered entry structure has been added since I last saw the garden. The gazebo has low-voltage lights hidden at the top of the walls, creating a soft light inside the structure after dark. The fountain spills water over huge limestone rocks, and it disappears into river stones--larger than the stones in the path. The rocks are contained within a border of limestone. The fountain bubbles only when a switch turns it on. The whole garden is watered by drip lines.
Creating this garden was a very good idea, and I'm especially pleased that high school students can claim a part in having helped to create it. A real, hands-on project such as this makes every landscaping lesson we covered far more memorable than it would have been otherwise. Maybe someday these students will be the ones to initiate the blessing of another grieving family with a place of beauty to retreat to--having acquired skills and experience in this project.
If I had quoted the little article completely, the fact that it was NOT Hans would have become apparent. Here is an example: "Schlappig first got involved at 15, when his parents would drop him off at the airport on Saturday morning and return to collect him on Sunday night. Now he earns hundreds of thousands of dollars blogging about what he calls the Hobby, and averages six hours a day in the air."
******************
Hiromi sometimes warbles this line from a song: "I Never Promised You a Rose Garden." I don't think he knows any of the other words, or at least he doesn't sing them often enough for me to have learned them. He might feel compelled to sing it again if I ever start pining for a rose garden of my own like the one I was in last night.
LaVerne and Rebecca invited us over last evening, and we spent our time in the "Anja Miller Memorial Rose Garden" in their backyard. It was a lovely evening in a lovely place.
The garden was Kathy T.'s brainchild, I believe, and Judy M. and Jo Y. helped mobilize the effort to create it. Interested people donated money to buy the roses, structures, furniture, supplies, and utilities. Others donated ideas and labor. People in their small group from church and students in the Home Environment class at Pilgrim helped.
Laverne and Rebecca, of course, worked the hardest of all (and probably paid the most) to create the garden. It's been almost two years since their 18-year-old daughter Anja died instantly in a car accident. For people who were close to the family, 9/10 is the new 9/11--a day of disbelief, horror, and grief. This year, however, for the first time, people who wish to remember Anja can go somewhere besides the accident site or the cemetery--at least if LaVerne and Rebecca are up to having guests. They can go to a rose garden.
The garden is located in the spot that used to be the vegetable garden--southeast of the house. It has a wide-open view to the sunrise all year round, and, for most of the year, a view of the sunset as well. LaVerne and Rebecca usually spend early mornings in the rose garden.
The transformation from bare ground to rose garden has taken place entirely since last winter. To the Home Environment class, LaVerne supplied a drawing of the dimensions of the area to be developed, and located within it the site for the gazebo that someone had offered to donate. He and Rebecca also informed us of several other features that people had offered to contribute--a garden bench, and a fountain. The class then began experimenting with designs for locating plants, paths, and various other features within the garden. LaVerne and Rebecca decided on one of the student-submitted designs that I had modified only slightly. It was a four-sectioned "wheel" with a path around the perimeter, a fountain at the hub, and four paths dividing the wheel into quadrants. The main path through the garden led directly from a spot on the perimeter of the rectangular garden area, through a path circling the fountain, and straight ahead to the entrance of the gazebo. The other paths in the wheel created right angles to the main path.
Since Rebecca is partial especially to pink and red roses, we designated pink as the main rose color in two opposite sections of the wheel, and red for the other two. A few white roses are interspersed with the other colors, and a few pinks appear with the reds, and vice versa. Outside the wheel are sections for other colors--purples in one, yellow with the mums in the corner facing the road, and peach, orange and coral behind and around the gazebo. Climbing roses are planted at the base of trellises on opposite sides of the octagonal gazebo. The back "wall" of the garden is formed of redwood lattice--fairly tall--and fronted with pampas grass. Other grasses and perennials and a few small shrubs are mixed in with the plantings outside the circle. The beds are mulched with attractive organic material--shredded bark, maybe. The paths are surfaced with pea-sized rounded-off rocks in the lovely mixture of colors they come in straight out of the gravel pits along rivers in the area.
One fairly sizeable gravel-covered area contains a fire ring. Thick marble slabs collected a long time ago by LaVerne's father are to form benches around the fire ring. A lattice-covered entry structure has been added since I last saw the garden. The gazebo has low-voltage lights hidden at the top of the walls, creating a soft light inside the structure after dark. The fountain spills water over huge limestone rocks, and it disappears into river stones--larger than the stones in the path. The rocks are contained within a border of limestone. The fountain bubbles only when a switch turns it on. The whole garden is watered by drip lines.
Creating this garden was a very good idea, and I'm especially pleased that high school students can claim a part in having helped to create it. A real, hands-on project such as this makes every landscaping lesson we covered far more memorable than it would have been otherwise. Maybe someday these students will be the ones to initiate the blessing of another grieving family with a place of beauty to retreat to--having acquired skills and experience in this project.
posted by Mrs. I (Miriam Iwashige) at
6:26 PM
2 Comments:
Thanks, Miriam, for the enjoyable evening with you and Hiromi. Rebecca and I are deeply indebted to you, your class and the many who have helped bring the development of the rose memory garden to fruition.
Several minor additions to what you wrote:
The gazebo was purchased with money that Anja had saved from her 4-H projects, etc. A significant share of the out of pocket costs for the improvements such as edging, mulch, electrical and rock have also come from her savings.
And, yes, we enjoy sharing the garden. The welcome mat is ALWAYS out and coffee is readily available!
By
LaVerne, at 8/21/2015
Thanks LaVerne for the additional details. If I ever knew about the money from Anja's savings being used for the garden, I had forgotten. I'm sure this is exactly what she would have wanted you to do with that money.
By
Mrs. I (Miriam Iwashige), at 8/21/2015
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