A Smith Gallery - "Landscapes" Phography Contest

and – scape : scenery, countryside, topography, land, terrain, environment, outlook, vista, panorama, view …..

“Everyone knew him as “Bud the Landscaper.” He was a big man, about six five, maybe two seventy, or more, almost all muscle, except for a prodigious beer belly, which he worked on daily. He would drink eight or more beers when he got off work, and then two or three more with dinner. He was only seen noticeably drunk once. A group of frat boys challenged him to a pitcher drinking contest. He won. New folks in the bar, especially women, always wanted to see Bud the Landscaper’s hands. They were famous. Thirty years of hard labor planting, digging, raking, pruning, wheelbarrowing, and shoveling had created amazingly large, callused, creased, and patinaed five digited works of art. They appeared almost as Raku Japanese ceramic beasts.

One glorious early late Spring morning, after a rain, Bud was pruning azaleas in a magnificent formal garden that followed the natural, gentle fall of the land to a violently running bayou, carrying along branches, dislodged grasses, logs, and various types of colorful trash. Silver and burnt sienna Carp surfacing, their large open mouths working, seeming to ask for help. Bud looked up, scanning the scene for alligators. A tall, skinny legged heron, riding a fast-moving log, made him chuckle.