When we bought a 1962 yellow VW van to drive across the country I insisted that we call it “Daffo-down-dilly.”
When I met Linda Werner she had scads of flowers in her yard. She made it a habit to share the first bouquet with someone outside her family. That is a practice that has brought lots of smiles and joy to me, also.
When my husband and I lived in California I was always amazed at how WRONG it was that the daffodils in the Bay Area bloomed in February! That was not spring and just WRONG to this Ohio girl.
He took me to a place called Daffodil Hill. Just lovely flowing fields of daffodils. They would inspire him later in Ohio.
Mr. Kuehner owned farm land on Woodford Road. I think he lived with his sister. I am uncertain if he was still farming the land in front of his house by the time my parents bought that apartment building at 3804 . I do remember my mother once sending me up his driveway to the house (which my friends were certain was haunted) to buy fresh tomatoes from him. There was a well in front of the house. They were pleasant, but I was frightened.
The best part of his property was the creek that flowed along the bottom. It frequently flooded in spring and emptied into a drainage pipe that went under Woodford Road. This was about 1958 and I was allowed to play in that creek in the spring unsupervised. Putting on Totes clear plastic boots over my shoes, I ventured out for an afternoon or two. The memories from that time have lasted a lifetime.
There were some stones in the creek bed that could be moved around to change the course of the flow. The stones also had fossils embedded in them. (I never understood that this was a big deal geologically until I was much older.)
There were also and occasional empty land snail shell embedded in the creek bank. I was enchanted. Grandma Rush used to bring me seashells from her bus trips to Florida. Here I found my own! At the opposite end of the creek there was a huge weeping willow tree where I could get under the golden spring tendrils and hide. Or at least I thought I was hidden! As an adult those willows are majestic, but not really good “cover!”
The rushing water would flatten the grass along the edge of the creek. But the very best part was when the daffodils would bloom. Such lovely golden flowers I had never experienced! And fragrant too! The single large flower of the King Edward was my favorite. Double blooms seemed showy and confused the petals, losing the trumpet.
More daffodils memories to come! They are starting to bloom here ;-D
We have an area in the yard we call “Fern Valley.” Ever since we moved in about 17 years ago we have had a huge dead tree in the green space. This tree has been featured in many photos and we have come to love it. Often have wondered how long it would stay standing.
Well, we are having a wind storm. While we were out shopping today the giant must have fallen! The first clue was broken branches with orange wood showing in the woods. Then yikes! There is something missing from our skyline!
The giant is always to the left in the photos. Now no longer in plain sight ;-(
Good bye dear friend! Many squirrels and countless birds have enjoyed your shelter. Who knows how many when you were alive? Wonder how old you were?
One of my best gifts EVER was when my husband took me to Ireland to celebrate my 60th birthday. We visited Connemara and learned “Connemara is bounded on three sides by the Atlantic Ocean and encompasses a wide variety of natural and semi-natural habitats. It also has diverse economic resources. Among the more unusual are extensive deposits of soapstone and veins of green marble and vivid white quartz.The marble is a serpentine-rich rock, popular since ancient times as a decorative facing stone. With its ‘forty shades of green’ and its wild patterns, it represents perfectly the landscapes of the Emerald Isle.”
This morning as I looked at one polished piece of marble from there I was struck by a similar sight off my deck!
Lovely marble indeed. Just one of the many, many shades we saw in the showroom. And then outside my window …
Camera did not quite catch it, but the shades are so alike in my eyes that I was startled. Fond, fond memories from May, 2011!
Did you have a story in elementary school about the pussy willow shrub? I think I must have because it brings a smile to my face each time I see it.
In our old neighborhood I let a friend cut some branches to take home. She told her girls about the bush. Trying to say back the name her youngest exclaimed. “Oh look! Squishy Pillows!”
These shrubs are fun because they shout a promise of spring and they are easy to cultivate. Cut a few branches. Let them root in water. Transplant to a moist place in the yard and let them go! Each spring after the leaves emerge from the buds, my husband cuts them back so that new branches will form for the next spring.
The above website says: “The technique of coppice, severe renewal pruning, is often successfully used as part of pussy willow care too. Branches of the pussy willow are somewhat weak, so yearly pruning when flowers are spent encourages new growth for the next year.
“Cutting branches for indoor display is an excellent use of catkins and flowers when growing a pussy willow tree. Cut branches with buds and place them in a tall vase in bright sunlight. You’ll be rewarded with indoor blooms before the outdoor tree breaks bud, in many cases.”
Ha! I found two older ladies singing the song from elementary school! Guess it was not a story, but a song. Think pussy cat. (Sadly, the word has become vulgar in today’s political society. ) I was impressed that these ladies could do the movement at the end! I found a video of children singing it with movements, but their voices were very faint. Enjoy!
Quoting from http://www.akron.com/pages.asp?aID=15774
“Moss is an equal opportunity plant that readily grows anywhere it finds favorable conditions. It has a shallow root system and thousands of tiny spores that can be quickly dispersed far and wide by wind and rain. This allows moss to gain a fast foothold and spread easily.
“Moss loves shady conditions with dappled sunlight, moist acidic soil of low fertility and poor drainage and little or no air circulation. Its favorite side of anything is the north side. Heavy clay soil and overgrown shrubs and trees all help to contribute to conditions that are favorable to moss growth. Although the moss may be unsightly, plants and grass are not harmed or killed by moss.”
Moss promises me that even in ugly areas (like clay on parts of our hillside) beauty can be found and spring will return! When we photograph flowers in the Smoky Mountains I love to try to capture close-ups of moss. I can imagine an entire village of tiny creatures and people populating it. Look closely next time you see moss! I once brought in a clump to grow on our window sill. It was very difficult to keep the light and moisture to it’s liking.
Today, if she were still alive, my mother would have been 106 years old! She loved flowers and worked in a flower shop much of her adult life. Not as a designer, but a shop clerk. A few weeks ago I showed you the first clump of daffodils growing on our hillside.
Here they are February 4, 2018, a little worse for wear from all the snow, freezing rain and bitter cold we have had. One delight from living in southwestern Ohio, you never knew what you will find once the snow melts and you can see the plants once again!
Forecast for the next two days is warm with a possible two inches of rain! Can’t wait to see how the daffodils respond! One day soon I hope to write about my lifelong fascination with daffodils.
What if I told you a story about myself?
Once I was frozen in my feelings. Our alcoholic family of origin lived by the Alcoholic unspoken, but strictly enforced, rules of “Don’t think,” “Don’t talk,” “Don’t feel.” When I began attending Adult Children of Alcoholics meetings and Al-Anon I started breaking all of those rules. It was as if I was “breaking out of an inner prison” as I first wrote in 1982.
Someone at a Christian group told me about this book. The first time I read “Codependent No More” I bought my sister a copy and told her, “She lived in our house. She got in our heads. She wrote it all down!” I was truly amazed that someone else on earth not only understood the life in our house on Skyview Lane, but published what she knew!
There is a hillside on the way to my house now that is studded with stones. When the temperatures get frigid, as they are right now, the water might drip from the stones, but it quickly freezes into bars. It often reminds me of the prison I once lived in.
The stone that was once my heart has thawed and been healed in so many profound ways. I would be hard pressed to list all of those ways! I have been learning to think and feel and talk in appropriate ways for many years now. I do not ever want to go back to the ways of my upbringing. I spent hours in sessions of therapy trying to untangle the mess that was made in me.
I am certain my husband and I made some mistakes while raising our children. We used to joke that they might one day need counseling as I have needed it. But “we did the best we could with what we knew at the time.” And I, too, believe that my parents did the best they could with what they knew at the time. Hope my children can understand how not having alcohol as a constant influence in our home set them free from many weird things.
As I wrote this poem on the other blog I was amazed at the photos ….
At the shores of Living Water
Hear crickets there
Flow of Living Water invites me deeper,
Quieter
I was struck while choosing these photos for my stand-and-tip blog how much the stone around the mouth of the water resembled petrified wood.
And then how much Grand Canyon itself looked like the petrified wood!
What an amazing creation!
Treasures in Plain Sight, A Christian Blog 