The best-laid plans

We make plans, but plans do not always work out as we planned.

This summer, for instance, is not what I expected, but it certainly is better than last summer. That was when the flood of all floods changed every plan, necessitating months of tedious and expensive repairs.

The weather has been kinder to us this year, although not to others upstream. We have never had a greener lawn. I know I’m not supposed to be proud of a lawn—Al Gore would recommend a xeriscape to protect the planet—but this lawn is a gift from the river, I think. Its silt cover left the perfect lawn nutrients, along with some troublesome weeds, in its wake. We don’t even water it, so I guess it meets the “green” test.

An early summer injury left my gardening plans waiting backstage. Rather than tending rosebushes—which have shriveled from my inattention—I spent weeks in an upstairs bedroom watching eaglets fledge and grow larger than their mother. My gardening efforts amounted to watering a few pre-planted urns on the back patio, while weeds flourished in the perennial beds. As my foot healed, I dug out the stone borders that were still covered with flood mud, and weeded, from my little invalid scoote—a sight to behold, I am sure. Now that I am back on my feet, I make daily amends trying to undo a month of neglect.

A play I had rehearsed last winter, but never performed, opened with another cast at the Rivoli Theater in South Fallsburg last weekend. (It continues this weekend.) “Negatives” by John Klemeyer was an unplanned replacement for “A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum,” which never happened. It’s a refreshing, contemporary play with an airtight plot and witty, natural dialogue. My family enjoyed watching another actor play “my” role. I had to admit the character and I have a lot in common, and the actress who played her (Sally Minnick) could be my sister. I loved watching the action unfold the way you never do when you’re onstage with a role. There were even a few surprises for me, in the choices made by the director, Rebecca Robbins. And I felt more than a few pangs of regret for the “roar of the greasepaint.” Maybe next time…

My daughter’s summer plans, too, have changed abruptly. We will now have two weeks together we did not plan for. (I guess that novel will have to wait.) Instead of discovering my childless self, she and I will visit colleges together, in New York and New England. I am eager to spend this time with her. She would rather I put on an invisibility cloak a la Harry Potter, but she will tolerate me, I’m sure. When out of the public eye (I am sooo embarrassing), she may even enjoy our time together.

Serendipity loves a vacuum. When faced with a dearth of plans and no friends-in-residence this summer, I offered the suggestion that she study guitar with our neighbor musician friend, Bob Lohr. Her guitar playing is largely self-taught and driven by the need to put a melody to her original songwriting. She agreed, and Bob did too, though he was reluctant to teach a complete novice. I assured him he would not be limited to practicing chord changes with this student. Guitar lessons quickly morphed into a real musical collaboration. A life-long musician, Bob saw her native talent and went right to work planning a local recital for her, complete with back-up musicians, including himself. This serendipity may turn out to be the highlight of our summer.

Unplanned time can be burdensome, or a heavenly gift. Last night, my daughter and I spent some out on the deck watching meteors fly. We bundled up in blankets on the pool chaises and conversed in “ooohs” and “ahhhs” as the Perseids put on a show for us. I imagine all the times yet to come when she will watch these stars fall in her lifetime, and remember the time she watched them with me.

- Cass Collins