The Gazing Globe Goof

My Nana was known for her green thumb. She had the kind of backyard that felt magical to a child, especially during family get-togethers, when the adults talked and laughed while we played among the flowers, shrubs, and all the little garden treasures she had tucked here and there.

I was about eleven when she decided she wanted a gazing globe. I remember admiring it when we visited that summer, but since I was a child, I didn’t know there was a story behind it. To me, it was simply one more beautiful thing in Nana’s garden.

I didn’t learn what really happened until years later, after I’d had my first child and Nana came to visit me. That was when she told me the true story of the gazing globe, and like many good family stories, it began with a simple request, a little confusion, and several people trying very hard to do something thoughtful.

The result was what our family came to call “The Great Gazing Globe Goof.” It was easy to imagine how it happened. Nana’s house was one home over from a noisy train track that went through town. Even the kids couldn’t shout loud enough to be heard when the train came through!

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BOB (NARRATOR)

It was a week before Mother’s Day in 1976. The U.S. was celebrating its bicentennial, and towns all over the nation were buzzing with plans for summer garden competitions. My mother was thrilled when she saw an announcement in our local paper. The Garden Club was offering a $100 prize for the best patriotic flower garden, an opportunity she couldn’t pass up.

(piano fades out)

SFX

Birds chirping

BOB

So, Mom, is there anything you’d like this year for a Mother’s Day gift?

MARY

Well, I want to make a rock garden for the Garden Club contest and plant red, white and blue flowers in it. Would you help me with it? I think I’d like a gazing ball right in the center. Something –

SFX

Loud train whistle and rumbling

MARY

(Voice drowned out by train)— not like Mrs. Barnhardt’s green one next door.

BOB

Sorry, what was that? A gazing ball like Mrs. Barnhardt’s?

MARY

(Distracted) Oh, never mind, dear. Any help you can give me would be appreciated.

BOB (NARRATOR)

Little did she know, this garbled conversation would set off a chain of events.

SFX

Phone ringing

BOB

Hi Jeannie.

JEANNIE

Hi Bob. I was wondering what you’re doing for Mom for Mother’s Day?

BOB

I’m helping her plant a new rock garden. She’s entering the Garden Club contest and wants a gazing globe for the center. I thought that could be her gift.

JEANNIE

That’s perfect! Barb and I will help out.

BOB

Sounds good. See you soon!

BOB (NARRATOR)

I was glad Jeannie offered to help with the garden. But when they didn’t show up during the next few days to help me, I knew that I’d misheard something. I didn’t realize my sisters were making plans of their own.

SFX

Phone ring

BARB

Hi Jeannie!

JEANNIE

Hi Barb. I talked to Bob. He’s helping Mom make a new rock garden for his Mother’s Day gift, and he said Mom wants a gazing ball for it. Do you want to split the cost with me?

BARB

Sure! What color should we get?

JEANNIE

Green. She’s told me several times how much she loves Mrs. Barnhardt’s.

BARB

That’s right! She’s going to be so surprised!

SFX

Phone ring

BARB

Bill! Nice to hear from you!

BILL

Hi Sis, hey, consider this a head’s up that we’ll be coming into town for Mother’s Day this weekend as a surprise for Mom.

BARB

That’s wonderful! It’s been too long since you’ve been home.

BILL

Say, do you know what Mom would like for a gift?

BARB

Bob’s helping her with a new garden, and Jeannie and I thought we’d … (undecipherable voice sounds)

BILL

(at the same time as Barb’s muffled voice) What’s that, Lynda? Okay, I’ll be there in a minute.

BARB

(normal voice)…like Mrs. Barnhardt’s gazing ball.

BILL

Great idea! Look, Lynda’s got dinner ready so I need to go. I’ll see you Sunday!

(a few bars of light musical interlude)

BOB (NARRATOR)

Fast forward to the day before Mother’s Day. Mom and I were finishing the rock garden.

MARY

We’ll put in the petunias, then we can stop for the morning. Do you have time to help me move more rocks this afternoon?

BOB

I don’t know, Mom. Jeannie and Barb wanted to help with this, and they haven’t been here all week. Maybe we should save something for them to do.

MARY

Oh, neither one of them have a green thumb. Besides, I want to finish today so I can relax tomorrow. Grab those flowers and bring them over for me?

BOB

(grumbles)

MARY

I don’t know why you’re grumbling so much, you’re young and strong. Those red petunias can go in there behind the white alyssum. Oh dear!

BOB

What?

MARY

I don’t have anything blue!

BOB

(sigh) I’ll go to the nursery and see what I can find.

MARY

Would you? You’re a dear!

MRS. BARNHARDT

Yoo hoo! Your rock garden is turning out nice, Mary. Is that a new rose?

MARY

Hello Mrs. Barnhardt! Yes, it’s called Stars and Stripes. The flowers are white with red stripes on them.

MRS. BARNHARDT

Fancy! They’ll look very patriotic when they bloom.

MARY

I hope so. But I just love your gazing ball. I hope I get one for Mother’s Day.

MRS. BARNHARDT

I’m sure your kids will get the hint, Mary!

MARY

I think Bob did. He just left for the nursery to get something blue for the garden. I hope it’s a gazing ball! 

BOB (NARRATOR)

In the meantime, Jeannie had visited the same nursery that morning.

SALESPERSON

May I help you?

JEANNIE

I’d like to get a gazing ball for my mother.

SALESPERSON

We have several, right over here. They come in three colors: green, silver and blue.

JEANNIE

I think she wants a green one.

SALESPERSON

Very good. Would you like it gift wrapped?

BOB (NARRATOR)

When I arrived, I found some bluebells that I thought would work in the rock garden, then went over to the statuary.

SALESPERSON

Looking for a gazing ball? They make nice gifts for Mother’s Day.

BOB

As a matter of fact, I am. I think I’ll get that green one. Can you wrap it up?

SALESPERSON

Good choice, sir. Of course we can.

BOB (NARRATOR)

And, unbeknownst to any of us, Bill went to the same nursery when he got into town that evening.

BILL

Excuse me, I’d like to get a gazing ball as a gift for my mother.

SALESPERSON

Certainly! They’re right over here.

BILL

Do you have any green ones?

SALESPERSON

This is the last one. It’s a popular color. I sold two earlier today.

BILL

I’ll take it. Can you gift wrap it?

(short light musical interlude)

BOB (NARRATOR)

Mother’s Day arrived, and we all gathered in the backyard at Mom’s house, each of us excited to present our “unique” gift.

BOB/BILL/JEANNIE/BARB

Happy Mother’s Day!

MARY

Thank you! Oh, and Bill’s here, what a surprise!

BARB

Open your gifts, Mom!

MARY

(gasps) Oh my! What’s this?

BOB (NARRATOR)

We all watched in horror as Mom unwrapped not one, not two, but three identical green gazing balls.

MARY

(bewildered) I… I don’t know what to say. They’re all… green. They’re… lovely, dears. All three of them. Identical to each other. And to Mrs. Barnhardt’s.

BOB

(Clearing throat) I thought you wanted one like Mrs. Barnhardt’s.

MARY

Oh, dear. I said I wanted one like hers, just not the same color! But I appreciate the gesture. It was very thoughtful.

MRS. BARNHARDT

Yoo hoo! Hello Mary! Happy Mother’s Day! I brought you something for your rock garden.

MARY

A red, white and blue pinwheel!

MRS. BARNHARDT

I thought it might lend a nice patriotic touch. My, that’s quite a collection you have there. Three gazing balls?

MARY

Yes, it seems my children all had the same idea this year.

MRS. BARNHARDT

You know, the library is looking for donations for their upcoming silent auction. I’d bet they’d love to have a couple of those.

MARY

(brightening) What a wonderful idea! Kids, what do you think?

BOB (NARRATOR)

And that’s how Mom tactfully handled what we now call “The Great Gazing Globe Goof”. She kept one for her garden and donated the other two to the library. In the end, her patriotic garden, complete with one green gazing ball and a red, white and blue pinwheel, won second place in the contest. Sometimes the grandest gifts come from the greatest misunderstandings.

(musical outro)