There are steps along the way to completing a project that deserve celebration. Yesterday the north wall of the “pumpkin seed” garden fence was topped out at its eight foot height. While clambering around on ladders and icy boulders is exhilarating in its own way, I’m glad to be finished with this stage of the work. Left to do on the fence is the final course of coping stones and filling in the break in the wall line that’s been used for loader access to the garden’s interior.

The north wall will support a timber and stone roof that I will soon build to shelter a gardener’s tool cabinet. Mark Littlehales, a boatbuilder from Marlboro, Vermont, will design and construct the small hut that will have shelving on the inside and a bench facing the garden on the outside.

A finished product is nice to get to but the end is only the result of a series of accomplishments along the way. Once a project is done, the activity that involved me in the site ceases. I take my pleasure in the ongoing work, appreciating the momentary successes as they come.