I received the following email from a guest yesterday. It is titled :

“A lot of little beings can work a magnificent change in our world.”

A couple of ratty, dried up old window boxes, neglected under a neighbourhood mailbox.

Faded old flyers and last years autumn leaves.  TRANSFORMED!

Just another neighbourhood beautification project by ANt.
Now, fragrant fushia roses wave and smile lushly at passersby who stop to get their mail.  Freshly painted window boxes, filled with fertile rich black soil are their home.  And yes, they are resting on a clean swept surface, all litter removed.  This is my story of incremental change happening over here in the suburbs.

Thanks for your yummy food at Hernandez Cocina and for the spot to tell you about ourselves.  Luv ANt.

Intrigued by this letter, I responded with questions:

Thank you for this beautifully evocative description! Would you be willing to tell any more details? Could I take a photo for the website? This will be so inspiring for others to read! Is it public or private property? Is it a guerilla gardening or do neighbours know who you are? We will respect your anonymity–at the same time it would be great for others to know more details of this transformation!

Thank you so much for contributing this to our site. I will post it, with your permission, in the “community” section.

And received a message back this morning!

1.) Yes you can take a photo for the website.  Too bad I didn’t have a
‘before’ photo.  It looked terrible before.

2.)More details:

* The mailbox had black felt graffiti scribbled all over it and ANt husband
and I removed that with nail polish remover, until it sparkled.
* The window boxes were broken with the bottoms rotted out.  ANt husband
sweated in the hot sun as he nailed new pieces of wood to the bottoms.
*This was an “gardening guerilla” event–the mail box is on public property
and way at the end of our street.  It was unplanned and no one knew us.  But
we were seen doing the repair work by several kids on bikes.
*The people whose home is just beyond the mailbox came home from hockey
practice with their teenage boys just as we were finishing up.  They were
thrilled with it and their boys are going to water it!

You are very welcome for the contribution.  I love your site and the whole
idea of this.

Xo
Luv ANt

…so, photos to follow and another inspiring guest shows what can be done with a bit of time and a lot of love.