Читать книгу Tower Hill - John W Trexler - Страница 11

Though I was happy at Skylands, I felt I needed a job with more responsibility and benefits. I applied for the position of garden director at the Garden in the Woods in Framingham, Massachusetts. When the deadline for the interviewing process had passed, I was the top contender, so I was surprised to hear that the job was awarded to someone else. However disappointed, I reasoned that I had a stable and secure job at Skylands. A few weeks later, I took a trip to Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, to visit my college roommate Norman Finnance and his wife. While on a walk in the Sarah Duke Garden on campus, we came across a rather taciturn gardener working in one of the native plant borders. I kept peppering him with questions to get him to talk. Eventually, he asked me where I worked. I replied that I was restoring the wildflower garden at Skylands. He stared at me and said, “You must be John Trexler.”

It dawned on me that this man was David Longland who had been appointed director at the Garden in the Woods. Without preamble, I exclaimed, “You sonofabitch!” raised my right foot and pushed him into the border. This sounds terrible but it was done with good humor. Dave and I became friends and have stayed connected. Go figure.