This is a repost of a story I wrote in 2011.

What do a blueberry bush, a wagon and laughter all have in common?  Well if you are me these three things are all part of a wonderfully fun day of challenges.

Certain circumstances in my life have put me in a position where I must move out of my home. I am okay with that but I am not okay with leaving behind my plants, bushes and trees that I have lovingly planted, cared for, and harvested for the last 11 years of my life.  Not knowing exactly when or where I will be moving to I decided to start transferring some of my plants to my daughter’s house which is about a mile away from mine in the same town. That way I can still access them and possibly move them again when I get situated.

Being that it is spring with unpredictable and rainy weather the available optimal days for gardening are limited so the minute there was clear weather I was out there digging. I made trips back and forth with raspberry bush canes, lavender plants, rose bushes and garbage cans filled with wood chips and mulch. I transported all this in my trusty minivan and all was going well. Then came time to move my blueberry bushes.

I have two blueberry bushes, one is only about a year old but the other is about 4. Blueberries are not easy to grow in this part of Illinois because we don’t have the type of soil that they require. They like a very acidic sandy soil which we lack but there are things you can do to amend that. One of the things I did was to plant my older bush inside a large plastic tub in the ground which helps hold in some of the soil amendments. I also planted the second bush to help with pollination and they seemed very happy and just last year produced some blueberries for me.

I started with the smaller younger bush, digging it out and placing it in a large bin for transporting to my daughter’s house. This process was taking longer than I expected and with rain possibly approaching I asked my son for help. We both headed to my daughter’s house and started digging a hole for planting. Once we got the bush all settled in its new home we dug another hole for the other one.

Back at my house we finally unearthed the tub the bush was buried in but couldn’t lift it out of the hole. Although the bush itself isn’t very big I would say the bush inside the tub with soil and all weighed well over100 pounds. Here is where the experience starts to get comical. We struggle with it for quite a while with me partially in the hole prying and lifting and falling. We are struggling so much that it makes us start laughing and we joke about how we will get it into the van.

I laughingly say, “We can always put it in the wagon and walk it over there. Of course it may take 3 days but we have time.”

Just the thought of it made us laugh so much we had to stop struggling with the bush for a while. Finally, with the help of a hand truck we free it from its bed and my son, with the help of his sister; struggle to pull the hand cart across the yard to the driveway by the minivan.

By now I am covered in mud from head to toe pondering how in the world I am going to lift this bush into the minivan. Again we struggle with the bush and its pot. At one time I was stuck underneath it on the ground not able to get up. When we eventually get it partially on the floor of the van we realize that it is too tall to fit inside. Okay now plan B.

Remembering that joke about pulling it in the wagon I frantically try to come up with some other plan but it seems that walking it over is the only way. Mind you when I say wagon I’m talking about a big steel cart type wagon which I bought for yard work. It is bright yellow and by this time the best option I have. We dig the wagon out of the garage and miraculously lift the bush up into it. I tell my son to drive over ahead of me and make sure the hole is big enough to fit it.

I now start the mile long walk with bright yellow wagon and blueberry bush in tow. Walking down the sidewalks, crossing the streets and heading towards the short cut through the park I encountered many strange looks from people out walking as well as driving past.

I think to myself,

“What are you looking at? Haven’t you ever seen a woman take a blueberry bush for a walk in a wagon before?”

By now I’m chuckling and at times laughing pretty hard. Taking the path through the park may not have been my best decision because now I am faced with pulling this really heavy wagon up hill to get over the bridge and then I realize I will have a really heavy wagon behind me rolling down hill on the other side. I have to admit I looked pretty silly trying desperately to not let it run me over.

By now I am half way there and cutting through the post office parking lot sweating and breathing heavy from the strain. Of course I am still smiling and at times laughing as I encounter people and see the look on their faces. Once in the home stretch my son comes driving up as he was anxious to see how far I had gotten. He couldn’t believe I was making such good time. He snaps a few pictures and drives away.

Now I’m about a block or two away and there is a man standing in his driveway just watching me approach. When I get close he says,

“I hope it is still alive. It doesn’t look so good.”  Smiling I reply,

“Oh it’s okay. It’s just budding and it always feels better after I take it for a walk in the wagon.”

The man shakes his head and retreats into his house. I just keep walking, laughing my butt off. At one point I thought I saw another person run into the house to tell someone else to come and look at the crazy woman pulling a blueberry bush in a wagon.

All ended well as I finally reached my daughter’s home and her boyfriend, my son and I got that ridiculously heavy bush all comfy in it’s new home. It is still looking pretty good and getting many buds on it. No one has come to take me away either so all is well that ends well. I am looking forward to tasting some blueberries later this summer/fall.

Now how am I ever going to dig up and move that peach tree?