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Reflecting back, Wilson must have been destiny.
One day on a totally different mission, I happened upon an incredible find. There, in a man's front yard, piled high, were hundreds of tree roots destined to be burned to ashes. My heart was pounding. The excitement that filled my truck as I approached the pile could have filled an ocean. With permission from the owner, I set upon the pile to select a few unique pieces for a new addition to Bird's Paradise simply named, The Root Garden. As I walked circling the pile like a cat ready to pounce on it's prey, I tastily scoped out the variety of spectacularly huge root balls. For those of you that don't know, my truck is only a half ton meaning I can only carry so much in it. Minutes passed and I had completely filled the back of my truck and as for those of you that know me well, I still needed one more, lol. Back to the pile for a last scan to top up my already over flowing pick up truck. There, intertwined and tangled amongst the giants, one specific root ball, a little one, caught my eye's attention. I began to gently free the little root from his captives and carried him to my awaiting open tailgate. I scaled onto the tailgate and lifted the root ball to the top of the pile. I went back to the owner and gave him a gift for allowing me to remove some of what he saw as garbage and offering me the opportunity to embark on something new and creative that was before this, only a vision.
I got home home later that day and emptied the truck of all it's wonders on an old wood barn floor. A couple of days later I began the task of washing each root carfully to prepare them for staining. I couldn't help but notice that the smallest root ball I saved that day, actually looked like a little man. I sat him up and stared at him with wonder. OH MY! It is a little person! I called to my girlfriend to come and see what it was I was seeing. Look! It's Wilson! I brought him into the budding gardens that my girlfriend D was lovingly grooming and propped him up upon a rock. There he sat watching me wash his other friends for the rest of the afternoon. Wilson sat silently in the garden for about a week. I was rumaging through my shed when I came across a section of tree I saved a few years earlier because I thought one day I could make a swing out of it. BINGO! I grabbed a couple of sections of chain, a ladder, some rope, a hammer, my drill and screws, some hooks and a beam. I can't explain how exciting it is when a vision comes to me!
When the last screw was set, all I could say is "there you go Wilson, you're new home!
Greg Bradacs
Nature Artist
Visions of Nature
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