Lydia’s Advice

Many years ago, when Donna was going through the peak of her pain (from what was later diagnosed as trigeminal neuralgia), her sister came to visit for Donna’s birthday. As part of her birthday present, she gave Donna this lawn sculpture to represent Donna’s Guardian Angel. It was a custom they shared that reinforced their bond as sisters, to give the other one something positive to focus on when they were going through a particularly difficult time, especially since they live so distant from each other.

It then became my task to find a spot where Donna could readily see it. Since our bedroom was on the second floor, and navigating the stairs was a shaky (pun intended) endeavor for Donna, she spent most of her time up there. That placed limitations on location options. Over two decades before, when Donna and I first moved into “the big house” after her parents passed, she and picked a spot to set up a bird bath and some feeders. We could see it easily from the front porch or sit nearby in the yard. It was also visible from both the dining room and kitchen windows, so we could enjoy it even in winter.

The twin windows of the upstairs bedroom had an excellent view of it as well. That became the best choice. Of course it meant the feeding stations and bird bath area would have to be re-worked. I really enjoy doing those sorts of things, so I don’t refer to them as “work”. Rather, I think of them as “creative endeavors”. Donna had given the name Lydia, after her great-grand-mother to her Guardian Angel. In keeping with the spirit of honoring our ancestors, and with the Summer Solstice approaching, I decided to use the large granite rock to make a circle with compass point references, cover the interior with mulch, and place Lydia inside of it. Donna really liked the overhead view from the bedroom windows.

The following Spring brought an unusual straight-line-wind-storm (derecho) which tore off one of the branches from the nearby Catawba tree and sent it plummeting to the rock-circle. Fortunately, Lydia was spared any damage.

However, it did mean a re-working of the rock-circle after the debris was cleared.

This time I added another bird bath inside the circle.

Even in the Winter there was enough sunlight to keep the water thawed (mostly).

Unfortunately, the porous cement allowed the water to permeate and the freeze/thaw cycle eventually caused it to crack and split.

I was able to cement it back together, and this time I applied a (animal-friendly) water proof sealer to it.

That brings us full circle (pun intended) to the current condition. Which, even though it has a new layer of weed blocker and fresh mulch, still needs a little more effort on my part.

I had planned on having this completed before Autumn began, but breaking my hip just before Memorial Day, and Donna going into the hospital just before the Fourth of July kind of put things behind schedule. Still, we are both healing and (slowly) getting things accomplished.

Lydia’s advice — Never stop hoping, never stop dreaming, and most importantly never stop loving.