Guerrilla Gardening

“Work is man’s most natural form of relaxation.” – Dagobert Runes

Here in Baileys Harbor, there has always been assembled a House for Wayward Boys. Over time, this group home has taken on many forms and many locations throughout town, but has always been characterized by its self-help motivations. Finding decent, affordable, and year ‘round living accommodation is difficult in our land of plenty. The current incarnation ebbs and flows as any group of the young, but the core remains – Gravy, Mongo, and the First Man. Not merely “Boys of Summer” these fellas remain throughout the seasons. All of ‘em! Laboring. Living. Loving. (We’ll get back to the mushy stuff in a minute!)

A model for affordable housing? Perhaps, but we’re not going to add to that decades-long volume of babble. Instead, it’s their garden we celebrate. That’s right. These of the most-eligible-bachelor type have green thumbs. You’ve seen their gardens. Everybody’s seen ‘em. And, everybody who has reacts the same way – a lightened heart. These little gems jump out of the cleaned up yard with a vitality that just explodes! On paper the list of ingredients is small: three rocks and six geraniums. But their placement proves that design is everything, because even the most modest of materials can create a garden that pops! More than great color, though, the garden that brings out a genuine smile regardless of the number of times it’s passed-by is an accomplishment aspired to by even the most accredited garden designer. But these three splashes of petaled red and pink are the more remarkable because the effort that put them in the ground came amidst a summer of full-time jobs, side work, and community service.

Despite their overly busy lives, our neighbors did just one more thing. Already serving their communities (Mongo enjoying much deserved “R&R” after Afghanistan and Gravy and the First Man answering the call in the fire service), these friendly blokes reached out and made the space just that much better. They needed one more job like they needed a hole in the head, but here are their gardens. And, in these few geraniums, we see Hope. Hope for the future of our community. Now, here’s the mushy stuff, again. Hope as in the Love of Place.