Envelope addressed and stamped (that was the slow part
last time,
with the Camp Shakespeare check -- it's hard for a web 2.0 dude to
wrustle up postage in this day and age!).
Check book (more 20th century technology, sigh) at home -- but I'll
put the whole kittenkaboodle in the mail tomorrow.
Love, DZ
From: jayres(a)cvctx.com
To: weeklong-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
Date: Thu, 17 Mar 2011 17:33:02 -0700
Subject: Re: [Weeklong-l] Virginia's Roses
P.O. Box 202 Round Top, TX 78954.
Doc
On Mar 17, 2011, at 11:39 AM, McDonald G. wrote:
> Dear Doc,
>
> I'd like to send money for the roses. Could you remind me of your
> mailing address? I wish I could have been there.
>
> Love,
> Gail
> ________________________________________
> From: weeklong-l-bounces(a)lists.wikimedia.org
[weeklong-l-bounces(a)lists.wikimedia.org
> ] On Behalf Of James Ayres [jayres(a)cvctx.com]
> Sent: 16 March 2011 02:22
> To: weeklong-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
> Subject: Re: [Weeklong-l] Virginia's Roses
>
> And that's the way it was.
>
>
> On Mar 15, 2011, at 5:00 PM, Clay Stromberger wrote:
>
>> 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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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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