A touching piece of writing Susanne. I hope this job changes your life and your writing, I agree that you should do something other than/as well as garden writing.

Susanne-
I am reading Andrew Wyeth's biography. His wife was interviewed many times and throughout the book she comes across as just the sort of person you describe this man as being in need of. His art would have been so different without her.

You now fill this role, it seems. A form of muse. Critic, editor, guide, inspiration, mirror, catalyst. Looks like he may be doing some of this for you as well. Small miracle when this sort of meeting happens so late in life.

Nice piece of writing. The feelings it evokes puts the reader right there with you.

Ginger

Susanne-
I keep checking back to see what sort of feedback you are getting and am chagrinned to find nothing.

I checked out your photos and they are nothing short of spectacular. I would like some prints, especially of the hellebores and some of the other bulbs and iris. And your frogs. It is difficult to photograph flowers well,as you know.

Your gardens are lovely; you have an especial affinity for working with bulbs it would seem.

You are certainly multi-talented between writing, photography, and gardening.

Here is the cut-and-paste link to Susanne's photos; well worth the time, a visual pleasure.

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/susannes_garten/my_photos

Ginger

I read this and certainly find your situation interesting. I think the material begs for a longer treatment, which I hope you intend on pursuing.
I think you are completely on target about considering how you are influencing him and vice versa. He reminds me of a character out of Camus, the lifelong solitary pursuit.
This is rich soil. Art as legacy. Confronting mortality. What characters that hes created do you like? How would you describe his paintings? How has his art Âsuffered? How are you going to change and grow? How is he going to feel when that last poem has been catalogued?

How does one respond to such as this. Your words have beauty, the subject has emotional appeal . To hear of such devotion is rare. It appears you do not share this inability to allow others access nor are you restricted to garden writing. As emotionally taxing as this experience may be, how could you do otherwise?

' THE STORM'
It sounded as if the streets were running,
and then the streets stood still.
Eclipse was all we could see at the window,
And awe was all we could feel.

By and by the boldest stole out of his covert,
To see if time was there.
Nature was in her beryl apron
Mixing fresher air.

Uh oh -- I really should come here more often. Sorry for letting you wait!

So... do I want to be a muse. No. The poets wife considers herself as a muse to her husband. I know other women with artistic potential who live this pattern. All of them were ready to sacrifice their own creativity on the altar of devotion.
I'm far too egoistic to be a muse, and I wouldn't want to be "the woman behind the man".
I understand this work to be "just a job", but with a high risk of side effects. The emotional influence is strong, and it takes efforts to remain reserved.

Ginger,
thanks for visiting the picture page. I put it up because it makes explaining and discussing garden situations easier.
However, the pictures are of poor quality, they were taken with an old camera and scanned with much loss. I really can not recommend them.
For a few weeks now I have a digital camera. I still make bad photos, lol, but at least they're a bit sharper and can be posted without loss. With coming spring I'll replace the old photos by new and better ones.

Chubbles,
I will try to answer your questions.
- What characters that hes created do you like?
Most of his works are basing on anecdotes, real life happenings. Considering his life span, he has met everything in the range from Nazi commander to foreign tourist, from East German coal miner to West German intellectual.
As life writes the most craziest stories, his characters are all fascinating, each in her/his own way.
Short stories don't elaborate on details of characters, they are more like short sketches, using a compact dramaturgy which leads to the point like a joke to a punchline. Characters serve this method, they wouldn't dominate it.
- How would you describe his paintings?
I've seen some of his older works, mainly graphic arts done in red chalk, charcoal, Indian Ink, pencil. They show real situations similar like the ones in his short stories. In conformity with the material the works seem dramatic and somewhat "darkish" to me.
The newer works are mainly collages using clippings from colourful ads. They are abstract, sometimes a bit flashy, and they invite for interpretation.
- How has his art suffered?
I'm sorry, I do not understand this question.
- How are you going to change and grow?
I doubt whether I can really influence this process, I feel more like struggling as mentioned above.
- How is he going to feel when that last poem has been catalogued?
Hm... he's adding... there are new poems and stories which he obviously had not on his mind to write down earlier. But now, in the process of approching publishing, he's digging out more and more.
I don't know whether there will be something like a last poem. For the time being we've settled on a more practical agreement, that the book, be it his first or his only one, should not become too heavy. Weight shouldn't hinder people from reading the book in bed -- a strange but practical solution.

apprehend,
I guess Emily is Emily Dickinson? The poem is beautiful, and I regret that I don't know many works by her. I should do more reading... sigh.

Many thanks to you all for your interest in the topic, and also for withstanding hibernation. ;)