A month or so ago, Don posted a request on our local Facebook pages: did anyone have any old outdoor benches that they wanted to get rid of? He got a lot of responses and proceeded to drive around and gather the useable and sturdy benches. His idea was to have an area in Maple Grove, which is a clearing in our woods, where he and his musician friends could play music.

This is what it looks like now. He’d love to get a couple of benches that look like the one on the right, but for now, the white benches are sturdy, made of wood, and they’ll do. Maple Grove looks out on our neighbor’s fields.

Even more recently, he grabbed the old lawnmower and the hoe and cleaned up the paths. When he was finished he said that he wanted to show me what he’d done, as part of it was a response to a longtime request that I had. There’s another area to the left of Maple Grove, also a path, that is usually overgrown. I have always wanted the path cleared there so that it would open onto our neighbor’s fields and the beautiful view of the hills beyond. He did that, along with widening it.

Here is what he showed me:

Dan, who runs our recycling/transfer station, had seen Don’s post and saved a bench for him that someone dropped off. Don didn’t tell me about it, but he immediately envisioned it as a place for me to sit and meditate and gaze at the view. He brought it home and secretly took it up to the woods.

Isn’t this beautiful? And don’t I have a thoughtful husband?

This view is always lovely – the sun comes up over those hills. And it’s especially beautiful in the autumn.

From the other side.

My Don appreciation post for this week.

I absolutely love this and, needless to say, I absolutely love my husband.

Okay. Back to another heat advisory and temps in the high nineties. I’m almost looking forward to autumn.

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.