I took this picture in March. Jeff built that greenhouse many years ago, mostly with wood from here. The story of it’s creation is one of insane perseverance and I’d add -quite a bit of stubbornness too- (Jeff building it single-handedly, mostly on hands and knees, after an intense surgery when he wasn’t even supposed to be out of bed. I wasn’t around back then to talk some sense into him or tie him to the bed.) It held up well for an amazingly long time. By the time I moved here, trees had grown up and the greenhouse didn’t get as much sun as it used to. We stored wood in there and enough pots to start a nursery (seriously, Jeff collected a lot of pots over the years.) To me, the old greenhouse looked like a hobbit structure when you walked inside. The roof was just high enough to walk in, but just low enough to feel cozy. Jeff and I were both fond of it and we talked about converting it into a goat house or a milking parlor or a chicken coop or a duck house or a garden shed or…..

We knew we would have to replace most of it to keep it standing and that it would be easier to build a new structure altogether. As time went on, we added tarps to the sides to keep the wood dry, a branch fell in a storm and broke the corner (see?) and it was looking, well… quite shabby. Our fondness for the old building started to dim a little and finally we decided it needed to come down altogether. But there were so many other things higher on the priority list…. like the business so we could get the bills paid, the garden, the day-to-day things… you know… life. 

The old greenhouse waited (and waited) and every time we looked at it, we declared  

A friend visited over the winter and as I gave them a tour around the place, sharing what our dreams and visions were for each spot, I pointed to the greenhouse and said for the upteenth time “and we’re going to tear that down.” And when I said it, I was really tired of hearing myself say it. An unwavering determination set in, and after our friend left, I said to Jeff “Let’s tear that thing down once and for all! I’m tired of talking about it. Let’s do it!”

Well, my friends, after a whole lot of hard work (a day in March and a day in April, plus smaller stretches here and there) of clearing and hauling out, dismantling (man does Jeff build things to last!), and one giant bonfire (the wood was too rotten to salvage), we said buh-bye to the old greenhouse. This past Saturday that old greenhouse officially came down. It was such an incredible feeling. To have the open expansive view. To have one more thing crossed off our to-do list. To not have to point at it any more with a tinge of annoyance. To say goodbye to a piece of the past and say cheers to a fresh start and a new spot to dream. What will we do there? Maybe elderberries. Or herbs. Or some squash this year (if it will get enough light.) We shall see. 

But goodness, it feels good to sit on our favorite cedar bench Jeff made and look down the hill at that cleared patch of land. Bare earth never looked so good.