The Gravediggers

Our oh-so-impressive field with such beautifully dug holes

 

So my lovely J is on our HOA board this year and is actively involved in maximizing our property value before we sell in two years.  The proposed idea of adding trees to the beautiful grassy lot behind our home was approved and guess who made it happen?  Uh huh!  So this summer we ordered 20 trees from the Arbor Day Foundation for $20.00.  What a whale of a deal right?  Then we kind of forgot about them until they came in late November (apparently you're supposed to plant them while they're dormant).  There they were, at $1 each, most were about the length of two one dollar bills end to end not even kidding!  A few were longer but they were tiny!  J was working long hours, not getting home until 7 or 8 at night, and when the sun goes down at 5:30 and temperature is in the 20's the last thing you want to do is go dig holes.  Our poor little trees sat in the garagage for a week or so; I was worried they would die, so one day during Little's nap when it was in the upper 30's, I went out and dug the holes J had marked.  It wasn't too bad - the sun was shining and once you got going it was warm.  Several days later J put the trees in after work.  I had gone to a meeting and when I got home he was still working (Little was in bed before I left) so I went out to help him.  It was dark and cold but the moon and stars were out.  He had a flashlight and a head lamp and it was warmer - low 30's.  Cars slowed as they passed us and I couldn't place how I felt until suddenly a scene flashed into my mind - Huck Finn coming across the illegal grave diggers.  I started laughing.  "Do you feel a little like grave digger?" I asked J.  He replied that he'd had the same thought several times that night.  So the rest of the night we joked about being grave diggers.  It was actually a lot of fun to work under the stars in the fresh air - cold but fun.

Our efforts were not in vain and our little trees made it into the ground.  Later there was an HOA fencing project that fenced in our tiny trees with stakes and chicken wire.  Hopefully they grow.  If not, at least we got to be grave digger for one night!