Of Peaches and Irises

Grace Episcopal Church is once again offering the community a chance to enjoy peach desserts of all kinds and to hear its carillon that is normally played only on Sunday mornings. The carilloneur for this special concert will be David Maker. The event starts at 6 p.m. Sunday.

By chance, I spent a lot of time Tuesday lifting some of the iris plants that can be seen to the right of the church door. I had donated them with church permission a few years ago, after all vines and shrubbery were cleared from the front of the church, leaving the grounds rather stark.

Well, now it seems the iris bed has become ungainly and is a nuisance to the person who takes care of the lawn. He and I had a chat Monday after the council meeting and I said I would remove the irises. It was easier said than done, I found out. The roots had formed large clumps that defied my pitchfork and shovel for some time before I could wrestle them out of the ground. Finally I was able to load my wheelbarrow twice and take the plants to my yard for trimming and dividing.

The Rev. Carolyn Eklund came out at one point to take a look. She liked the irises, she said, but we discussed the need to keep church volunteers happy in their work. And anyway, there were plenty of plants if she could find a better spot on the grounds to put them.

The hours of toil gave me an opportunity to listen to my latest audio book from the Plainfield Public Library, poems of William Butler Yeats. The phrase "bee-loud glade" was so perfect a description of the sanctuary Yeats sought in Innisfree. Living in the "truck-loud 'hood," I was jealous.

Today I have to dig up the rest of the plants and will probably listen to the poems for the third or fourth time. Reading Yeats was one of the things on my post-retirement list; having his poetry read to me while out in the sunshine is even better.

So this is the story behind what will be a bare patch on the church lawn Sunday when you come to visit, have dessert and listen to the marvelous carillon donated by the Pittis family for all to enjoy. There may even be a few souvenir irises to take home.

--Bernice Paglia