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Topic: Space (01/23/06)
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TITLE: HOW BIG WAS EDEN? | Previous Challenge Entry
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01/27/06 -
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“I want a little plot of land on the edge of town,” Robert said. “Just enough to have access to the world of nature.” Connie replied, “Yes, we need enough space outside the house to stay in touch with our roots, since we both grew up on the farm.”
“I know just the spot,” said the Real Estate Agent. “I have three acres in a pecan grove on the edge of town. It could give you the best of both worlds –city life and country life combined.
What more could one ask?”
Robert and Connie waded through shoulder high grass that August day as they staked out the acreage the agent showed them. “You can be homesteaders in this subdivision,” he said. “You can be the first to build in this cow pasture among the pecan trees These trees will provide nuts each year sufficient to pay the taxes on the property.”
As Robert and Connie visualized the house they would build; they visualized the children they would have. “At least three,” Connie said.
“We’ll build the house in the exact center for privacy. It will be far enough from the houses that will be built on each side of us and far enough from the road that the traffic will not bother us,” said Robert. “The front yard will be kept clear of shrubbery and small plants. It will be used as a ball field for the neighborhood children.”
The house was built and the children arrived. The front yard became a ball field, just as it had been envisioned. The back yard became a social center for the children’s activities, family hobbies and a place to park the cars. A fence was erected back of the house and it soon had horses, and at times, steers and goats. A family garden filled some of the space and provided food to fill a freezer. A barn was built for storage. True to the agents’ predictions, the pecan trees provided nuts enough to sell to pay the taxes each year. In later years, they provided spending money for the children
They named the little space Eden, never ceasing to give thanks for their suburban location. When their jobs grew boring, they dreamed of Eden and family weekends, grateful they had space to call their own.
The shape of the house changed as the carport was enclosed to make a recreation room or Den for the house. An enclosed sun porch was added to the area that had once been a patio, and later, another larger carport was added. Dogs, cats, rabbits and myriads of other animals, at various times, called Eden home.
Time passed. The children grew and left Eden. The animals slowly disappeared. The space reserved as a ball field, turned into a camellia garden, along with dogwood trees, flowering pears, roses, gray beards, crape myrtles, day lilies, lantanas, rain trees, altheas and palm trees. It took on the look of permancy. Some of the pecan trees died and were replaced by other trees or flowerbeds.
Pine trees were planted in part of the pasture the animals once called home; the other part became known as the meadow. Wild flowers grew there in colorful array. Beyond the pines, fruit trees begin to appear: peaches, pears, apples, satsumas, kumquats, blackberries, figs and grapes. More flowering shrubs appeared, and a magnolia tree, a holly tree and a confederate rose. The magnolia, in later years, became known as the Climbing Tree for the grandchildren. Daylily beds appeared where no flowers had been before. Birdhouses and birdbaths appeared. Ivy begins to climb the ancient pecan trunks along with Cherokee roses and moonflowers.
Cement planters appeared beside the carport with year-round annuals adding a colorful display. Wrought iron chairs and tables appeared for entertaining guests in the garden.
One warm, sunny spring day, Robert and Connie were sitting at the wrought iron table sipping lemon aid, watching butterflies as they fluttered from flower to flower. “Do you ever have the feeling that we’ve restored Eden,” Connie asked?
“I hadn’t thought about it,” Robert said.
“We really have had the best of both worlds in our tiny space here. Not only have we had city conveniences and country space, we’ve found our inner space here too. I can hear God’s voice
speaking to us in the garden again.”
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