Brick Project

A couple weeks ago, Rob and I started working on a brand-new project⁠—outlining all our garden beds with bricks!

We had ordered the bricks at Acme Brick, Tile and Stone in Tallahassee on April 21, the day after I got my second dose of the Covid vaccine. The vaccine made me pretty sick, so everything seemed strange and warped that day, like a fever dream⁠—but I was still able to order the bricks! Lol. I really wanted those bricks.

The bricks are the real clay kind (not concrete), a classic dark red, and we’re arranging them around the beds in a sawtooth pattern. I enjoy doing the work. It’s very pleasant, almost meditative, to sit on the warm ground and dig with a garden trowel, arranging brick after brick. As I work, I like to watch the hummingbirds hovering about the Indian pinks, and the box turtles chowing on my gifts of watermelon. I like coming across earthworms and gently setting them aside, making sure they’re a safe distance from the construction zone.

Since we have quite a lot of beds, I don’t know when the brick project will ever be complete—but that’s okay. I’m happy with the progress we’ve made so far. The brick-lined beds look so tidy, and the new brick edges really help to emphasize the beds’ graceful curves.

Rob and I often take little walks to admire the newly outlined beds. We were admiring them yesterday, in the twilight, as the scent of gardenias and jasmine filled the balmy May air.

“Look at that curve!” Rob said, pointing to a stretch of brick that I had arranged. “That is expert!”

“I like this part,” I said, pointing in turn to some of his work. “I love the way it swoops around the cabbage palm!”

And now for some irrelevant cat photos:

Leroy doing his impression of a seal:

June loves to nap on the breezeway. It’s her favorite place. She even wants to spend the night out there!