DREAMING

I dreamt that I received the following letter from the city of Darwin Council.

Dear Mr Gray,

On behalf of the Council, I am writing to thank you for the long-time care and dedication you have given to maintaining the verge in front of your house.

When you first moved into 190 Leanyer Drive at the beginning of 1987, the front verge was nothing but grass, None of it ever having been planted and looked after.

The fact that you worked on the verge of getting rid of the dentris, including clay within the subsoil, and then covering it by manually spreading the load of topsoil contributed via the council, was the start of an upgrade that to date, has lasted close to 40 years.

Council knows that you planted the entire area of your verge with buffalo grass and installed an irrigation system to your yard that extended to include watering at your expense, to the verge.

We also note the various stages. The front verge was planted with African desert rose plants and, more recently, frangipanes. The attractiveness of your verge – our property – has drawn many comments of appreciation.

We appreciate that the verge is maintained to a high level by regular watering and fertilising. When your irrigation system, installed some 13 years ago, became obsolete, you upgraded your yard with a new system and again included the verge with that system upgrade.

We appreciate the money you have spent in close to 40 years to transfrom your verge – our property – into a strip permanently maintained and attractive to behold.

Thank you so much for caring.

Yours faithfully,

Darwin City Council.

October 17 2023.