Our house was built in 1954 from a kit (kind of like a puzzle) in this first suburb of Anchorage (South Addition).The original owner was a first rate gardener, and the house was on the garden tour at the time.
The Sitka Rose Hedge still gets a lot of attention. Noses are stuck in it every day. The day I did this drawing a neighbor remarked, “I could stand here and smell it for hours.” Last year Brian decided to get rid of it because he has a constant battle with an invasive weed; his arms were in shreds from weeding amongst the rose thorns. Several neighbors mounted a protest, so he put down a weed mat and hoped for the best.
The sun is a door knocker, not a gate ornament. There are stars in the hedge because the roses have five petals, leaving a star shape when the petals fall off. Which is apropos because I was focusing on this quote when I did the drawing:
Peace mounts to the heavens, the heavens descend to earth, earth lies under the heavens, everyone is strong.
–Victory Song of the Morrigan, Book of Fermoy