nothing but chatter: Good for the Soul

This would qualify as an anti-procrastination project of the BEST kind! when BEST=longest procrastinated :) So when Philip (my brother) passed away December 2011, we received several stones in lieu of plants. One, I gave Jeff (my other brother) as he didn't receive any. It came w/an easel & I think it was this poem:

Then I received a sitting angel/cherub & another stone with the 'if tears could build a stairway to heaven' poem & angel on it. I received them right around the time of the funeral & they were put on the bottom 2 steps right as you come in the front door to our house. (We call them the UP steps b/c they lead up to the living room vs the DOWN steps that lead down to the childcare) ANNNNYYYYYYYYYWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY... there they sat, getting shifted to vacuum around, getting bumped into the wall & each other by children pushing their boundaries as well as dogs that came running down the stairs way too fast. A FULL YEAR AND A HALF later... I finally start talking about moving them outside. I had originally wanted to wait until we had one of the flower beds done that would give them some place to sit near the house & out of the direct weather... but that wasn't very high on our priority list so it hasn't gotten accomplished & they stayed inside. Finally, one day on a whim while the kids were playing out front, since the back was still too muddy, I grabbed them & decided they were going outside. I was finally ready to release any emotion I had attached to them.. Yes, they were given to us in love but they were neither the people that gave them nor were they Philip, they were after all, just chunks of rock, nothing living, breathing or feeling. I sat on the edge of the rock garden & cleared a spot in the river rock just big enough for the angel/cherub to sit first. then I cleared a spot for the bigger one. I stepped back & decided, they were good. I was fine, no emotion, no second guessing so I walked away, feeling strong & proud for giving up the perfectionism of waiting on the 'perfect spot for them' & keeping them 'safe' (in the way) in the house. (in all honesty, it is nothing short of a miracle that neither of them is chipped, broken or otherwise missing an appendage since they in fact were quite in the way when they were inside.)

here they are all nestled in.

here is the whole rock garden: the well pump - from the old house, an old milk can - a garage sale find, the 'Jackson' log - an anniversary gift, the fence - relocated when widening the driveway & rocks - collected over the years. 'Perfectly', full of bits & pieces from our lives, each with a story of its own.