Garden Rings

Garden Rings

After 45 years in construction, specifically carpet installation, I never thought I'd find myself taking up gardening. In my job I was on my knees more than I was on my feet.

But there I was, once again on my knees. The thing was, putting on my old knee pads from work was like slipping on a well broken in pair of jeans. I felt at home, in my comfort zone. Working in the dirt and getting it under my fingernails just added to the familiarity and comfortability. 

I wasn’t new to gardening.  It was just that now I had time to enjoy it. The clean up that I was doing now wasn’t quite as enjoyable as I had hoped though. You know, that first spring day spent in the garden after a long, hard winter. Working to loosen the dirt and rid it of the overgrowth of weeds and grass is most definitely the hardest part of this new hobby of mine.

The little hand tools I was using weren’t getting the job done. It really needed to be rototilled but I didn’t own one and I wasn’t going to rent one. 

What I really disliked was digging with a long handled shovel. It was just too hard on the back. I was glad I didn’t have to do that here.

It brought back memories of 20 years ago digging in the far side of the yard. I guess you could say that was my first introduction to gardening. But that was all filled in now. The grass in that area has always been just a slight shade greener.

 I went to the shed and got the garden rake and a hoe. Well at least I was off my knees. I began yanking and pulling on the rake. Burying the tines deep enough so that it was like a tug of war between me and the earth. When I pulled a little patch of sod out by it’s newly spread roots I saw Mother earth pulling her hair out.

I had been at it for nearly two hours. The dirt was finally nearly free of weeds and patches of grass.  I got the chunks of dirt broken down into a nice manageable consistency. I could now dig that rake into the dirt as deep as it would go and pull without the tug of war. 

I was looking forward to getting off my feet and back to the part of gardening that I enjoyed. Being on my knees with my hands in the dirt. Making small holes and planting a variety of colorful flowers. 

As I pulled the rake out of the dirt after it’s final pass I noticed something on one of the tines.  I scraped the dirt off to expose a ring. I felt my heart skip a beat as I cleaned it up the best I could with my fingers. I took it to the hose and washed it up before trying it on. It slid onto my index finger with no problem. 

The flood of memories came rushing like water over the mighty Niagara Falls. I remembered that night when I stood at the back door and just threw that ring as far as I could. I felt the anger, the disappointment, and the crushing heartbreak that betrayal brought all over again. 

 Apparently my arm wasn’t as strong as I thought it was 20 years ago. I thought for sure it cleared our fence and ended up in the woods behind our house, never to be seen again. 

I knew I couldn’t dwell on these emotions. After all, it was 20 years ago and I’ve left that part of my life behind me like a beach in the rear view mirror. 

I took the ring off and studied it. I could barely see the cross thatch design that we spent so much time looking for. We thought that every ring we looked at was just blah. We wanted something that stood out. When we finally found this one we took one look at each other and knew this was the one. A kiss in the jewelry store sealed the deal.

I went back to my freshly “tilled” garden and placed the ring in my right hand. I looked around to be sure there were no nosey neighbors watching. I wound up like a major league pitcher and made sure this time it was deep into the woods.

It was a beautiful summer, just perfect for gardening. Just the right balance of sun and rain and the humidity stayed tolerable throughout. My garden couldn’t have been prettier. I’m a long way from being a professional but I think I got professional results. I believe I had every color in the rainbow covered.  My flowers looked taller and more vibrant than any of my neighbors. They popped like Waldo once you finally found him. 

With the end of summer closing in fast I was a little worried about how I’d spend my time once the gardening season was over.

I did receive an email from the president of the CRI (Carpet and Rug Institute) inviting me to a dinner where they will be honoring several installers for some of the showcase jobs they have done over the past few years. 

It said they would also be celebrating my retirement. When I read that line I nearly choked. I emailed him back saying that my career was really not very noteworthy. And that I was going to decline the invitation.

It wasn’t fifteen minutes after I replied to his email that I got a phone call.

“Hello”, I answered.

“Hi Joe, this is Frank Borden from CRI. It’s my job to convince you to be at this conference. “

And convince me he did. I was still a bit reluctant but it was going to be after the flowers had died off. It was something to get me out of the house. 

There was a light snow falling the day of the conference. It was just beginning to stick to the ground. I felt a little sad knowing it would be months before I could get back to the garden. But today was about the conference.

It was being held at one of the big hotel ballrooms downtown. I drove to one of the subway stations and took the subway the rest of the way. I hate driving in traffic at night and this way I skip the hassle of finding a place to park.

I didn’t know what to expect walking into the room. There were namecards set up on a table like at a wedding. My card had me sitting at table number one. 

That increased my anxiety a bit. But once the presentation began I started to get comfortable. Frank Borden was presenting a slide show of some of the work of the guys that I was sharing the head table with. There were four of them and each of them were being presented with a thousand dollars, a framed certificate, and the knowledge that their work would be featured in the upcoming “Floor Coverings” magazine. 

The applause was heartfelt. You could tell that their colleagues had real admiration for these guys and appreciated the level of expertise they possessed. 

When the applause died down Frank returned to the podium. 

“Before we wrap this up we at CRI would like to recognize this next person for her recent retirement after forty five years as a certified carpet installer. That’s a long time to be on your knees.” 

That comment brought a few laughs and whistles. 

“OK fellas, let’s keep it classy”, he scolded.

“In all seriousness, forty five years is a long time for anyone to be in this profession. We all know it can be very hard on our bodies. As you know in the last few years we have seen more and more women in the trades. But Joe was a pioneer. She has ushered the way for others to follow. Congratulations Joe!. Let’s have a round of applause for Josephine Miller”.

Hearing them applaud me was an awesome feeling. It was like the thank yous that weren’t received from so many of my customers over the years.

They also presented me with a thousand dollars, a certificate, and told me that I’d also be featured in “Floor Covering” magazine.

 I arrived back at the station about nine o’clock. It was a good night I thought as I got on the subway train. The snow had gotten heavier and I had to brush off the car before I could continue my journey home.

I got home around ten and was beat. I went straight to bed thinking I’d crash. But I had trouble falling asleep. The day's events kept replaying in my head. They were all good thoughts but something was nagging at me.  It was an uneasiness that fell over me. Like an omen of things to come. 

The next morning the entire landscape was a blanket of white. I went to the back door and looked out at the yard. It was all white. Even the greener patch of grass...all white. The rainbow of colors that was my garden...all white. 

I thought about the ring in the woods, now buried in snow. I hoped that it would never be found. I kind of laughed inside of me as I thought, ‘I hope they never find the other ring in the garden’. 

I buried my second husband without removing it.