I got the idea for the pictured garden statue when I visited the Planting Field Arboretum in Oyster Bay, NY not too long ago. They had a nearly similar figure displayed at an entrance to one of their conservatory buildings. Wanting to copy it, I realized I could easily take a picture with my phone and work from that. It is not a SmartPhone, (I couldn't qualify) but I can take photos.
It is very simple to put together, especially if you've got cracked pots laying around. The largest piece, what I call the Indian Urn, was left by the prior owners when we bought the house 23 years ago. I never had the heart to throw it out. I've had various plants in it, and now I think I've found what it was destined to be: a torso for a garden statue.
Over the years I've had various toppings for Mr. Terracotta. I've tried to give him a winter look, and when there's snow on him, he does look quite appealing.
The last hat he had was a bright red stocking cap, but the weather and the birds seem to have rendered it unusable. The current cap is one of many such caps I have. This one is however of complete unknown origin, and seldom worn. I don't remember ever buying it. It was just here. Perfect fit.
The scarf replaces the one I draped over Mr. T. one year. Turns out that scarf belonged to my daughter Susan, who eventually realized Dad had misappropriated a family heirloom knitted by Grandma Brennan. She took it back to be cleaned up. Sorry kid.
The current neckwear was acquired in July of this year when some German tourists left it on a bench I was sitting on on 34th Street and 5th Avenue, alongside the CUNY Graduate Center (formerly B. Altman's department store, where I once worked), killing time before a dental appointment nearby.
It was a warm, sunny day and sitting on the bench getting some sun felt good. The husband was wearing shorts, and the wife was carrying this scarf. Why in July someone was carrying a scarf is beyond me, but the woman left in on the bench. By the time I realized they had left it behind they had disappeared into the sea of pedestrians at that busy NYC corner, I stuffed the scarf into my bag with the intention of using it for Mr. T.
I've just repositioned Mr T. for the winter. As such, as I strung new rope to support his arms, some of the crockery came loose from his right arm. I now suspect he's a candidate for Tommy John surgery. I'll wait for another cracked pot before I perform it.
After my wife washed the scarf and freshened it up for the coming season, I realized something about it that I hadn't before. I always knew the ends are knitted together. I left them that way, wanting to keep it true it its origins. But when I wanted to make a loop out of the scarf, I realized an end had been twisted before it was sewn to the other end. Unfurled, the scarf is a Mobius strip.
As anyone who pays attention to this blog already knows, we are all connected. I have the proof.
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