Creative Yard Tinkering
By Fonda Nelson
13 Aug 2009
Okay...So I drive around town looking for the next photo opportunity that catches my attention. I look for new, different, bright, creative...nothing in particular...just whatever jumps out at me. On my way home from work, I try to take different roads here and there to see what I might find. Today was no different...I drove the same roads for a while and then I turned down one that I've never been on. I don't always know if it is going to come out somewhere I'm familiar with...it's a mini adventure one might say.
So I'm driving along...I notice a school I've never seen before so I head in that direction. I get close enough to check out the name and nope...never heard of it. I drive down the other side of the school and notice on the left there is a five or six foot wooden fence with a boot mounted to it. The boot has a plant sprouting out of it. So I slow down and take a photo. As I continue following the fence I see a garden window on the fence with yard art on and around it. I snap that photo too. I get to the driveway and there stands an older gentlemen looking at me with a question of "can I help you?" on his face.
I tell him that I'm just admiring his yard art. He then smiles and invites me to park and to come check it all out.
I follow him into his yard and what a yard it is. He has so much to take in. He states that he and his girlfriend have created it all. He tells me about the "hanging tree", which is a tree with many things hanging from it. He walks me over to a corner and tells me that not everyone likes this corner and I'm looking around. I don't see anything to be worried about. He points out his fathers headstone that is connected to a creation he hand crafted. There is a bell on the top. He shakes the whole thing and rings the bell. I ask him why he had the headstone here in his yard and he said that is the part that people have problems with. His father was buried right there in the yard. WOW.
So we walk around and he is telling me where he got some of his flower pots. Some boots and shoes were given to him when a second hand store had closed down. The sinks were from when the old school across the street had gotten torn down - making room for the new one. He had an old bomb, antique fire hydrants, farm machinery, horseshoes, creamers, coffee pots, light fixtures, saw blades, railroad spikes, milk cans, roller skates, frying pans, insulators...and so very much more.
It started to rain a little but we kept talking. He walked me over to this rusty old metal box. He tells me that it is his coffin. He looked at me to see my reaction. I chuckled and then he said that it use to be used to haul manure and that when he dies he wants to be thrown in it with the S**t and buried. It was funny to think about - but I truly think that the cute little old man was serious.
The man walked around pointing out this and that, but the rain started coming down pretty good and my camera was beginning to get wet, so we ended our tour. He told me that I was welcome to come back anytime. I thanked him for the tour and told him that I most definitely would like to come back for another visit.
2 responses
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Michael Adams gave props (14 Aug 2009):
What a great find! Love seeing soemthing different and new! You have my vote!
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Catherine Kurvink gave props (14 Aug 2009):
This is great!
