The futility of life

During the 15 years I lived in Chester Springs, I spent a great deal of my evenings and weekends returning the land to its native state. With mattocks (I went through four, bending the head of each), bow saws, a chain saw, an ax, and shovels, I removed thousands of vines from tall trees (mostly walnut trees) and dug up the vine roots. I also dug up or cut down mature Russian olive trees by the thousands. I did this along the treeline where field met forest all the way around the 4.5 acre property. My crowning achievement was the springhouse garden. I didn't know the property had a springhouse until I tripped over a stone wall while exploring the vine-infested forest, which truly was a dense jungle. It took me two years but I cleared a horseshoe shaped garden aroung the springhouse and planted it with native flowers and shrubs, and lots of ferns, maybe six or seven varieties.

Here's what it looked like. I absolutely loved this garden, but it was a lot of work. You can barely see the springhouse at the back.

When I went back to visit my old house a few days ago. I was prepared to see that my hard work had not been maintained. The couple who bought the house were expecting their first baby when they moved in. And they had a young retriever. And they both worked. So here's what became of my garden:

It's just an expanse of grass that gets mowed or weedwhacked by their gardener. Sigh. The redbuds and dogwoods and viburnum I planted are gone. Some large walnut trees are missing. I imagine the vines are working their way back into the treescape that I had revealed all the way around the property.

The whole time I worked on the land, I knew no one else would be mad enough to continue that work--pulling the vines out of the forest and backfilling with native trees and bushes. I mean, I was a bit mad doing all of that. But every time I went up and down the driveway, I loved to look at the treescape--individual tress as opposed to a wall of vines and autumn olive that overwhelmed everything. I told myself at the time, I'm removing 20-30 years of growth of invasives. If no one protects the ground I've gained, at least I've let in light to give the native trees and shrubs a chance before the invasives come back. I wanted to provide as much food and shelter to native birds and insects as possible.

And I give Jason and Jess much credit for taking care of the house. They have done an excellent job extending it and updating it--for instance refinishing the floors. They truly appreciate the house and I'm very happy it is in the hands of people who still pinch themselves because they can't believe how lucky they are to live there.

Oct. 14-18