It has been a little over a week since Hurricane Sandy came thrashing through and while life has returned to normal in some ways, I think we all know life will never quite be the same.
There are still reminders everywhere around us, and this is an area that was not nearly as devastated as places like the Jersey Shore, New York City and Long Island:
On a personal level, this is all I had to contend with:
The potential loss of the arborvitae above may be a blessing in disguise as its neighbor will be on its way out as well, due to the dreaded bagworm:
My 'Winter King' Hawthorn is leaning a bit, but I'm hoping it will correct itself without much intervention:
All in all, I am blessed to have not suffered any other damage. We have so many others still without power and with temps in the 20's last night, that ain't so good. We were thrilled to have helped out our friends and family over the past week by simply providing warm beds and hot showers.
Now this is a gardening blog (or a weak imitation of one ... see, still haven't lost the self deprecation) so I'm back to my calling (slight sarcasm still here too).
One thing that has been capturing my attention, post hurricane and now that we have super cold temps, is this planter:
Not elaborate or dramatic by any means, but it is hard to take issue with seeing anything green and alive this time of year. And I think I may have nailed the thriller, spiller, filler equation.
I originally created this container back in mid summer as a space filler in shade on my front porch. I threw it together without much thought and stuck it in the corner. It was cheap and low maintenance.
Prior to Hurricane Sandy, I brought this container in the garage so it couldn't operate as a missile during the storm.
After the storm, I put it out on my back deck, right in view out of the kitchen:
It's amazing how something so simple can provide such pleasure. But then again, that is what drew me to gardening in the first place. It is a constant reminder to enjoy the little things. Good times.
I think this container, from this point forward, will serve as a reminder of all that transpired with Hurricane Sandy. And a reminder to enjoy all that we have, because you never know when your world can be rocked.
In fact, I may keep the "Leaning tower of arborvitae" as a backdrop to this container. It is too symbolic to remove it:
Later my friends.
John