The simple work of the woven basket home project

The tree is old. Based on its wild growth, it is an exotic species. Trimming it will take time. Furthermore, it will create a lot of brush and clippings. Reggie is sure he can do it in the time he has left before work. However, he won’t be able to dispose of the brush until tomorrow. He checks his watch. The time is almost four in the afternoon. The old tree has been on his to do list, since he moved in to the old house.

At first, he considered cutting the whole tree down. However, he changed his mind one afternoon when he saw the neighborhood kids taking refuge in the shade of the tree. There are no fences separating the yards of his neighborhood. Additionally, Reggie’s yard and several of his neighbor’s yards, are adjacent to a community baseball field. Moreover, Reggie’s tree is the only tree around, that is large enough to offer shade.

Simple Work

Except no one can really enjoy it because of all the trimming the tree needs. Now, he is finally clearing this from his list. Therefore, he says a small prayer seeking a blessing on the tree, before he begins his work. The work goes relatively quick and within an hour, or so, he has every small branch and sprouted twig trimmed and set in a pile.

After removing all the brush and small limbs, he pauses his chore to go to work. But not before a tantalizing idea occurs to him. He looks over the pile of brush. It is full of long willowy limbs, with long and sturdy, but flexible, twigs. This might work he thinks, then he leaves for work.

The Simple Work of the Woven Basket

A few days later Reggie is sitting in his garage. There is a pile of clippings around his chair. In fact, it is the leftovers from trimming the tree in his yard. His focus is deep as his idea takes shape. Furthermore, it is going much better than he expected. For being a novice, he feels pleased with his progress. The woven basket is taking shape. Likewise, it’s easy to tell it’s a basket. He stays on it, and within an hour, he finishes the last bit of the handle.

Then he holds the basket by its handle. He feels pleased with his finished product. In fact, it is a sturdy but good sized woven basket. A hand made basket. Reggie examines his finished work. It is a rugged looking basket, but large enough to easily contain a large sack of groceries. Or a medium sized sack of grain. Reggie examines his basket, while watching the kids on the baseball field at the back of his house.

The batter hits a high pop up. Reggie watches the young man run and position himself under the pop-up fly ball. The youngster is quick, and obviously an experienced player. However, the ball hits his glove, and passes right on through. The youngster sees Reggie watching him and swears. Then he throws his old and worn glove on the ground, and quickly grabs the ball. Then hurls it with a vengeance. He gives Reggie a shoulder shrug, and joins his friends in the dugout.

The Home Project

Reggie is a city worker. He drives the road sweeper truck in the evenings. Sometimes he drives other vehicles for the city too. For example, the salt trucks when the winter weather becomes severe. His department has a small crew, and they cover different parts of the city. Reggie’s supervisor Amelia, is also his long time friend. Although they often work together, this particular evening she is terribly upset.

Later in their shift Amelia confides in Reggie. She is beside herself with worry. Earlier in the day her purse went missing. It only took a few minutes to discover that someone stole her purse. Now she is up shit creek. Furthermore, she hasn’t a clue who could have done such a thing. She is upset, and knows this will set her back quite a bit. However, it won’t replace her money. Of all the things to lose, her money was the one thing she couldn’t afford to lose.

Amelia is saving up for an operation. It isn’t for herself, but it is intensely expensive. She had a deposit for her savings account in her purse. And then her purse went missing. Not only is she back to square one, but also her cause has suffered a setback. She confides in Reggie, and they discuss it for a while. Then they return to their work. Later, after his shift, Reggie is still thinking about Amelia and her stolen purse.

The Woven Basket

Reggie is home for less than ten minutes, and then he discovers it. At first he’s still thinking about Amelia. Then he arrives home, and begins to unwind. He searches through the channels on the TV. After selecting something to watch he moves toward the kitchen for a bite to eat. That’s when he sees it. The woven basket he made sits inside the garage door where he left it. However, it isn’t the same as how he left it. For one thing, it’s no longer empty.

Reggie stops cold. He stoops down, and almost can’t believe his eyes. Then he reaches into the woven basket and pulls out the brand new baseball glove. He examines it closely. It is top of the line, and it is an impressive absolutely new, baseball glove. Not only is Reggie surprised, but also he is certain he knows who the glove is for. In fact, there is likely to be a very surprised young man tomorrow. Reggie examines the basket next. How could this be? Only he witnessed the event on the ball field the day before.

Project

In fact, it happened just after he finished this woven basket. He feels slightly strange. It’s as though he’s missed something, but he has no clue what. Therefore, he sets the new glove on his kitchen table. He will deliver it tomorrow. For now he is ready for some shut-eye. The mystery of the woven basket will have to wait until the morning. Except the following morning the mystery escalates to a whole new level when Reggie discovers Amelia’s stolen purse, complete with all its contents, sitting in the basket, on his kitchen table. To be continued…

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