This Exeter Life: Moving

I’ve made a decision: I’m moving to Churchill’s Gardens for the summer.

It will be an easy move. Just across town. And I can pack light. Everything I need is already there.

Each night, I’ll bed down in Greenhouse #1, a low slung wigwam affair stocked with hundreds of impatiens.

I won’t need an alarm clock—the rooster will wake me promptly at dawn. 

I’ll take my morning coffee in the gazebo overlooking the roses and the ornamental grasses, then stroll along the windy walkways past burbling fountains, twisting lawn ornaments and surprising ceramic animals.

I’ll bathe in the gentle mist of the main greenhouse as hundreds of hanging baskets get their daily drink.

On the hottest afternoons, you’ll find me under the big white pergola between the shade perennials and the ground covers, dangling my legs off the porch swing enjoying the cooling breeze.

I’ll host my visitors on tucked-away benches, under vine-covered arbors overlooking acres of blooming plants.

On rainy days, I’ll retreat to the miniature house on-site and snuggle into one of the upholstered wicker sofas with my book.

My meals, served on the patio next to the Japanese water feature, will be overflowing with lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, herbs, beets, peas, zucchini, scallions, eggplants and nasturtiums, all lovingly raised from seed by a fleet of red shirted gardeners wielding hoses.

When I long for a few creature comforts, I’ll spend an afternoon sliding my feet along the cool tile floor in the shop, eyeing beautiful plates and bowls, smelling luxurious soaps and admiring grapevine bird houses.

And as the sun goes down each night in my summer retreat, I’ll watch the light hit Exeter’s own Garden of Eden and be grateful that I live in a town that supports such perfection.

I just hope the braying donkey doesn’t keep me up nights.