My favorite practical joke

Many years ago, my friend Spass and I owned condos in the same complex. These were fairly nice townhouses, with private courtyards in front and reasonably large back yards.

Spass had a tendency to go overboard sometimes, and at some point he got it into his head that he needed to landscape the front courtyard. A normal person would put in some bark dust and planters, and toss a few plants in for good measure. They might even build a small rock garden or even plant a small tree, and if they were feeling especially ambitious, put in a drip irrigation system.

Spass was not a normal person in this respect, no sirree. He spent weeks digging up the yard, installing a zoned sprinkler system with electronic timer, building retaining walls for terraces, sculpting a walkway, building planters and a bench, and just generally spending way too much time and energy on a space that couldn't have been larger than two hundred square feet. Of course, his friends gave him no end of grief about this while occasionally helping out. We just did it for the beer, honest.

And then, right after the great landscaping project was finally finished, Spass's birthday rolled around. I've never been one to leave well enough alone, and I have just the tiniest streak of overkill myself. I decided that the courtyard, lovely though it was, needed some extra help. A trip to the local carnival supply store provided me with all the materials I needed, and I spent a few evenings getting everything ready.

On Spass's birthday a mutual friend and I got up very early and began the transformation.

View from outside

From the front, you could tell that something was up. Those flowers definitely were not natural.


A hummingbird perched in one of the planters, happily feeding on the flowers that Spass had so generously provided.	In the courtyard, a snail wandered about looking for tasty plants.

A veritable zoo of animals wandered about the yard. There was a bunny rabbit peeking out from behind the planter, an entire family of mice, and even a couple of balloon earthworms crawling through the soil. Elsewhere one could find hummingbirds, butterflies, and even a pair of balloon lovebirds perched on a swing, beaks locked in a perpetual kiss.

The entire courtyard had been redecorated with flowers, vines, and animals. On the right, there's a bouquet of balloon tulips in a vase. This picture also clearly shows the extremes to which Spass went to landscape the small courtyard-- note the terraced planter and the retaining walls that protect the walkway to the handcrafted bench.

We finished up around 7:30 a.m., had breakfast, and then went back to my place to wait for Spass to discover our efforts. Even though we left nothing to identify the culprits, it was a pretty safe bet that I'd be prime suspect number one. And sure enough, my phone rang shortly after 9.

"Very funny!"

"Oh, good morning. Why are you calling so early?"

"You know exactly why I'm calling."

"Actually, I have no clue. Oh, wait, it's your birthday, isn't it? Happy birthday!"

"Yeah, yeah. Nice work. This had to be your doing." He laughed.

My partner in crime picked up an extension. "She had help." We hung up and headed back over.

And the birthday boy surveyed his newly-redecorated digs.