Flower Box

This weekend, built from scratch a raised flower bed in the backyard. Scheduled 6 hours and a $120 budget but completed in 10 hours well under budget. Cedar sides which smell good. L-shaped to fit a corner of the yard that needs some TLC.

Spent weeks planning. Shopped for materials in the local big box store. Was there an hour. No one offered to help. Brought materials home, and son Jonathan spent Saturday afternoon digging out dead shrubs that did not survive the December 22-23 below zero freeze which freed me up to construct the box. He recommended a different tiered elevation of the box  which I fortunately incorporated.

Sunday, daughter Ashlee and husband Tom brought grandson Hayes over as is our weekend  tradition. She suggested that I orient the box at a slant in the corner of the yard for better viewing. We did, and she is right.

Meanwhile, Hayes played with the hand tools, giving special attention to the old school, yellow folding measuring stick. With his sharp mind, Hayes took a diameter measurement of the charcoal grill then correctly calculated the circumference of the round Weber grill. Amazing, at nearly 8 years of age!

With the box nearly done, I experimented with putting caps at each junction where 2x4’s vertically met 1x6” cedar boards. Each my son, daughter and grandson vetoed the look, so we removed the caps which, in turn, gave Hayes a new opportunity to hammer nails into them to make odd shapes, to his delight.

What does this have to do with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy? A lot, methinks.

Construction and proper placement of the box took teamwork. The opinions of collaborators resulted in a nice result. We all had fun pitching in. With a helpful and available tool, Hayes reminded us just how smart he is at such a young age. We now have a nice result sitting out in the back yard.

Careful planning. Getting the right stuff to proceed, whether or not outsiders help. Collaboration, from different angles of the challenge. Being willing to adapt as the project evolves. Being smart. Enjoying the journey along the way. Getting a good result.

As I and others enjoy blossoming shrubs in that raised flower bed this Summer, I will respectfully suggest that recipe above to construct a box will also work well as we continue our search for a cure to DMD … certainly cannot hurt!

Kindly yours,

Papa in Franklin