A LOT OF WORK... & some play too (Part 158g)

A LOT OF WORK… & play too Part 158g)

Supper wasn’t quite ready so I headed for what had, at one time, been a formal garden behind the garage. I’d cleaned most of the dead stuff out and had re-established the grass paths but hadn’t planted anything… a combination of not enough time and not wanting to spend money on unnecessary things. But free plants took that part of the equation away. Elle had told me it would be about a half hour until she’d be ready. I grabbed a shovel and started turning the old flower beds. Based upon the knowledge I’d gleaned from John (the neighbor farmer to the west), it had been at least a dozen years since the gardens had been tended to. The soil in our area is a sandy loam which doesn’t usually get too packed, or hard. But, since no one had touched it in all that time I found it a chore and was sorry I’d started it. Jean came out to tell me supper was almost ready and to come in and wash my hands. I’d just about finished with one quadrant and wanted to finish it so drove the shovel in one more time… but it didn’t go very far.

As I mentioned above, the soil was a sandy loam and good for growing potatoes, other veggies and flowers. One thing farmers didn’t have to worry about was rocks that could break their equipment. Knowing that I was sure that I hadn’t struck one… but just what did I hit was the question. I made a couple more thrusts into the ground and finally got the blade to go in. I then tried to pry what I’d hit up and out of the way. As I did I could hear Elle, with a bit of exasperation in her voice, call me to come in the house. But, whatever it was that I’d hit was now, slowly rising out of the ground and I wanted to see just what it was.

At first all I could see was what looked like a clump of dirt. I bent down to pick it up and saw what appeared to be glass peeking through on one end of the clump. It didn’t weigh all that much so I, still holding it in my one hand, tried knocking the dirt away from that area. It was like it was welded to whatever it was. I wasn’t making much headway so went around the building into the garage to get something to pry it off. Without going into the trunk of my car and into my tool box all I could find was a screw driver. Elle made me jump when she walked up to the doorway and demanded to know what I was doing. By that time I could see it was a jar of some sort and told her I’d found it in the garden. It was obvious she didn’t care because she was mad that I’d not come when I’d been called so I put it down and followed her into the house.

There wasn’t much conversation while we ate and I knew the reason… she was just like her mother and when the meal was ready to eat she expected everyone to be there. As soon as we were all finished I headed back to the garage. It took but a few minutes to find out what I had… a sealed Mason jar with something indiscernible inside. As soon as I tried to release the latch it disintegrated. Even though the metal was galvanized, over time and in wet dirt it had rusted through in a couple of places. The next challenge was to get the glass lid off. It looked like the rubber gasket used to seal it had melted and the two parts were glued together. The trusty screw driver came in handy but not the way I’d intended. When prying between the two part proved futile, frustrated, I decided to hit the top with the handle and broke the neck of the jar. I picked up what was left of the jar and looked inside.

I’m sure you’ve received some surprises in your lives… and I had too. But, seeing money, in a roll, stuffed into the remains of the jar was the biggest one I’d experienced in my life. To get it out I had to break the rest of the jar. As I did I wondered how whoever had placed it there managed to get it through the neck of the jar as the wad was about 3 inches wide. The bill that was exposed was a $20. I wanted to start counting it right then and there but reason took a hold and I headed for the house.

I was so excited that I can’t remember what I said to Elle when I handed the roll of bills to her. In fact I’m not sure what she said at that moment either. I wanted to start counting but I remember telling her that I’d found the jar in the garden before we did. It was a real job to count. I had no way of knowing how long it had been buried there and as we tried to peel the bills apart they were curled and wouldn’t stay flat. When we’d counted over $2,000 we had bills all over the kitchen counter, in the sink and on the floor. Neither of us could believe it. Then, Elle stopped and with a look on her face I’d never seen before asked if there might be more jars out in the garden. I’d not given that a thought and with greed now the ‘driver’, we headed back outside. I don’t know how many thrusts with the shovel I made into the ground but I know it was dark when we came back inside and with nothing to show for the effort. It was actually funny to walk into the kitchen and see all the green paper, curled up and all over the place. I remember standing just inside the door and putting my arms around Elle, giving her a big kiss and squeezing her butt.

To be continued...