A Summer Bling Fling

Function over form went out the window at the Trouts’ Farm amid the choking cries of the Yellow Cuckoo and heavy summer air.

I am uppity regarding bling, proudly surrounding myself with stuff that makes sense. If it isn’t useful, or takes up too much space, or is hard to clean, I turn up my nose.

Enter our new decorative fence, a collaborative between Bob, Lyle, and our go-to handyman, Martin—with nodding approval from me—involving polished, 3/4″ thick aluminum skeletons and pressure-treated pine.

Last winter, Martin removed four gasping Red Tips and a truck-damaged Mimosa, turning our backyard into an exposed scar. Good for the garden in terms of added sunlight, but harsh on the eyes. I agreed that we needed a focal point, a fence perhaps, something to divert our attention from the kitchen compost, the triple-shredded mulch, and the long-neglected farm next door.

Bob and I were perusing online decorative fencing options, none of them terribly pleasing or unique, when Lyle stumbled upon a stack of aluminum skeletons in a Sanford scrapyard. Skeletons are what’s left after the parts you need are cut out of a metal sheet. Lyle has been welding eye-catching garden gates from steel skeletons for ages.

These aluminum panels would be perfect, especially after Lyle took them to his shop and polished them to a gleam. The entire endeavor would be expensive, but our fence would be unique, and it would never rust. I gave the project my full support.

There were a few smaller pieces, which we asked Martin to mount on the pole barn he’d recently re-sided. All three installations have admittedly brought endless fun as we try and guess what shapes were removed and what purpose those missing pieces might now be serving. Apparently, we are hard-wired to seek function within the form.

Additionally, we invested in three sets of prayer flags to dress up the garden and both porches. We chose splashy, hand-crafted flags from Etsy in lieu of the traditional Sanskrited squares.

The Jay is made from these words:

Remember who you are. Remember what you love. Remember what is sacred. Remember what is true. Remember that you will die and that this day is a gift. Remember how you wish to live.
–From How, Then, Shall We Live? By Wayne Muller

The Crow says:

I am here to represent Him Who sent me.
I do not have to worry about what to say or what to do,
because He Who sent me will direct me.
I am content to be wherever He wishes, knowing He goes there with me.
I will be healed as I let Him teach me to heal.
–From Helen Schucman’s A Course in Miracles

I love how our flags draw my attention away from my everlasting To Do list, how the breeze makes them whisper, “Take a minute to admire my colors.”

Inspired, the beauty berries put on their most impressive show ever. Bling attracts bling, I think to myself, sitting between the wildflower flags and the aluminum panels, half expecting a peacock to strut into our yard.