My dear husband left on June 24 for a journey abroad, and returned on August 15. How I missed him! Oh, yes, I kept busy in the backyard projects. Yes, I had fun with the grandchildren. Yes, I enjoyed my “freedom” every day to do as I pleased, when I pleased, to eat out if I liked, or not to eat at all. BUT, I missed him every day. I missed his company, his laughter, and his boundless energy.

My dear husband made his first trip to China in 1986! That year, there were no accessible phones in most of rural China. We had NO communication for about six weeks. It was extremely difficult. This year, we had the “miracle” of SKYPE, on which we could talk almost every day, and see each other while doing so. What an amazing world we live in these days. When the fence was complete, I took my laptop outside and walked around the yard, showing him the fence. I still marvel at this.

In 1986, almost as soon as Dear Husband left, the car broke down, followed by the washing machine. Then we had an intruder break into the house one evening while we were gone. Another night, very late, we heard a lot of noise outside, and our dogs barked wildly. I called the sheriff because I was scared. He came out and said he thought perhaps a large animal such as a bear had caused the dogs to bark. I gather he thought this was a comfort to me. The next morning, I looked around and saw evidence of a person: some wrappers and little ketchup packets from McDonald’s in my driveway. I was glad I had the dogs outside. I brought the dogs inside, but they weren’t trained for inside and made life more difficult, so I put them back outside.

This year, I have no dog, and I live in a city, small, but a city nonetheless. Some say we live in a “bad” neighborhood, but I’m happy to have neighbors. Since we live close to the hospitals, we hear sirens nearly every day, but in general, it is a quiet neighborhood.

In 1986, I was still quite young, though I didn’t think so at the time, and the eight week absence seemed like forever. This year, the seven weeks seemed fairly short. The older we get, the faster time seems to race by. Back then I had the children to consider and I feared for them when we had the break-in. This year, one of those same children, now an adult, feared for me. I must say my “children” looked out for me and took care of me by calling, e-mailing, coming over, and inviting me their homes.

It’s been a wonderful summer, and there is still some summer left. I’m so glad Dear Husband is now home to share it with me.

A few days ago, I noticed my plants drooping in the heat. We have not had a serious rain for many weeks. I decided to water the plants.

For years I have searched for the best hose, one that does not kink, does not break, is not heavy to carry, and is long enough for the whole yard. I have not yet found it. I’ve spent lots of money, probably too much, in the search. Early this season, I bought online a hose that looked like the answer. It is coiled, like the old time telephone cord, or the slinky toy. (For you who are younger than 30, look up these words in the dictionary.) I chose the bright purple one. The idea is that it wouldn’t kink because it was already coiled. The problem though, is that it gets tangled within itself, and requires untangling. It was supposed to revert quickly to its compact form, but what happens is that it is very difficult to stretch out. And it isn’t as long as I need it to be. Next, on the recommendation of a friend who has bought the newest thing, I went to an online site and succumbed to a “buy one, get one FREE!” plan. (I’m about ready to call it a “scam” instead of a “plan”) This hose has the remarkable quality of stretching out when charged with water, but shrinking when dry. When it was called “25 feet long” I thought it meant it was 25 feet doubling to 50 feet. In fact, it is 8 feet, going to 25. I chose the longest one, which is 50′ and then the site offered an even lower price than originally, to get the shorter one as well, so I did that. The problem is that you have to pay a shipping and handling cost for each one. Then, there is an offer of speeding up the shipping, to which I also succumbed. I paid $49.00 in these costs. So, I am reminded that nothing is FREE, except the grace of God. These newest hoses require their own special nozzle at the spraying end. I find the nozzle inferior to the one I already have, but that one doesn’t fit the end of the new hose. Also, you can’t leave the hose attached to the faucet, you must take it off and make sure it is dry each time you use it. I would send back this purchase, except I don’t want to pay that much shipping again.

Another problem at this house is that we have only one operating faucet outside the house — that is why I need so much hose. We replaced this faucet with a new “modern” one so that we can have some special valve on it. The result is that the hose will not attach securely to the faucet. Every time I turn on the water, much is wasted. I keep buckets under the faucet to collect most of the water, but still, some is sprayed on the driveway. I thought for some time that it was the fault of the hose, so I hoped this new hose would solve the problem, but the same thing happened. A neighbor suggested I get some washers (small round rubber rings) to put inside the hose, rather than think about changing the faucet. Good advice. For $1.49, I got a small package of 10 washers, a good deal, because I now have 7 hoses! This plan does cut down the water loss, but not completely. Besides the philosophical aspect of wasting the most precious thing in life, I have to consider that we pay for our water according to how much is used each month.

On the morning I decided to water the plants, first, I connected one hose to the rain barrel near the front yard, and watered everything in the front. When that barrel was empty, I connected the two oldest vinyl, easily kinked hoses,and attached one end to the faucet with the new washer in place. Then I attached the purple coiled one to these, with my own nozzle at the end. In theory, it is now 180′ of hose. (about 60 meters) I carried this long hose to the back yard, making sure there were no kinks, and that the hose was not breaking any plants in the area. Then I turned on the water, and started my task. A hose, even a garden hose, full of water is heavy. The purple one is awkward, and I have to keep moving it carefully to manage it properly. Having carried the hose all the way to the back of the yard, and back to the front, uncoiling, straightening, and lifting it to the plants, I was nearly finished with my task. As I was standing, watering my beautiful ferns and flowers, I was fussing in my mind about the inconvenience of my hoses, the placement of the faucet, and how hard it was to do the simple task of watering.

Suddenly, I realized there are people in the world who have NO WATER! No water for drinking, for washing, for daily life. These people walk for hours to find a source of water which is not clean, then they carry some home in a bucket. They have no plants for beauty. Although I eat from my vegetable garden, it is not my main source of food. My plants are entirely “extra” when we think of necessity. I was so ashamed of myself in that moment.

I came inside and sent a donation to Water For South Sudan. The website for this organization is www.waterforsouthsudan.org This is not a link, you must type it in for yourself. The founder of Water for South Sudan is Salva Dut. He was a “lost boy” of Sudan and came to the USA as a refugee. He goes to South Sudan and drills wells in villages. He has formed the organization in order to allow more people to participate in this task. We must never take for granted what we have, nor may we ignore the needs of others who have even less. If your life is convenient, give thanks. If you think it is not, think again.

Our fence is complete. Strong, young workmen came one morning and took out the old fence. Then another crew of men dug the holes for the new posts. I was surprised they were using the traditional post hole digger: one wooden handle, two small shovel heads hinged at the end. Dig straight down, pull up with the dirt, do it again and again until the hole is the depth you want. You make a deep hole with a small diameter. I thought they might have a power tool. I asked. The man said that the power tool is too great a risk for injury. Then I realized that there were three men digging, so there would have to be three power tools, and that would be very expensive for the owner of the company, and the fence would cost much more.

They used steel posts, the new thing in fence construction. Steel won’t rust, won’t rot, and will “give a little” in the wind. They set those posts in the holes and filled the holes with concrete. To mix the concrete in small batches, they had wheelbarrows with large wheels. They were here most of the day for these tasks. During the process of digging, they cut into the phone line, even though it was clearly marked. I was without a phone until the next afternoon. Today most people use cell phones, but we, being old fashioned, have only a land line.

The next morning, the work crew arrived at 8:00 am and set to work. They brought a power saw that they set up in the backyard, to cut boards. They had power drills and screwdrivers. Those steel posts have evenly spaced holes, like those cupboards in which you can place the shelf where you want. Easy to measure, easy to attach the board. First they attached the rails, the horizontal boards. Then they attached the facing from the outside. Finally, the steel posts are covered with boards, so they look like wooden posts. Four men working steadily completed the fence by 2:00 pm.

The wood is red cedar. It needs no finishing, no paint or sealer, because the natural oils of this wood protect it against the weather. The wood will age to a silvery gray color, but right now it looks reddish gold. The whole backyard is filled with the aroma of cedar. It feels like a new place, a sanctuary, a haven.

When my neighbor finishes his fence, which he is building himself, in his spare time, our yard will be enclosed. Robert Frost wrote a poem “Mending Wall” in 1914, in which he quoted the proverb, “Good fences make good neighbors.” In this poem, the narrator questions why we must build walls and fences, while his neighbor keeps quoting the proverb. Almost one hundred years later, there are at least twice as many people as there were then, and each person longs for some boundary between himself and the others. Perhaps we could rewrite the proverb to say, “Good neighbors make good fences.”