OLD PICTURES

"Here's the last one that I ever took of daddy . . . "

 "You must be going through your archives," my cousin wrote.  I had sent her some OLD family photographs.  (Except the one above is not old; it dates just to 1992.  More on that later.)

  The Statler Brothers sang about "Pictures" and the song has been 'playing' in my mind today.  Several of the lines were  especially poignant . . .  such as "Can you believe the dresses that you wore ?"; "Here we are at graduation"; "And here I am when I was just a kid"; and, apropos of the above picture: "Here's the last one that we ever took of daddy".  I took this one in September  1992, just a few weeks prior to dad's death.  He had wanted us to ride over the old dry-cleaning routes we had known in the 1940's and early '50's.  Mr. Markham's rural store had been one of his collection locations.  I have great memories of snacks he bought for me there, especially strings of black licorice.  In the intervening years, nature has overgrown the edifice and I could barely see it when we rode by it this past Spring.
  
    The song continues, "it's so much fun to be reminded of how we used to look and what we used to do. . . "  That sentiment is not universally held.  I do not believe that any of the lines quoted above were intended to be derisive.  Ridiculing pictures of the past can be a mean precedent for looking at today's prized pic's in, say, 30-50 years from now.

   The faces in the pictures that follow will be known and recognized by but few of those who read this.  I post these as encouragement for you to review your 'family archives', especially if those can be reminders of 'the goodly part of your heritage'.

"And can you believe the dresses that you wore . . ."

(With due apologies to high school classmates. Early 1950's)




                

"And here we are at graduation" . . .

May 1956.  Delana and I received an award.

"And here I am when I was just a kid . . ."

    Probably 1940 in the Southern U.S. mill village where we lived until I was approximately 5 years old.







  "It's so much fun to be reminded, of how we used to look and of what we used to do . . ."

Dad's foster-sister, Louise, and her son, around mid-1920's.










                                                             My mom (who would be 97 were she living) on right and her recently deceased sister-in-law around 1942.

   As mom grew older she had a distinct aversion to being photographed.











How the 'younger generation' looked:

My daughter on far right and her cousins, around late 1970's







   Take lots of pictures . . .  you and others probably will be  glad "one of these days".

       Satchel

MAKING A LIST . . .

         Okay; I admit it. This has nothing to do with Santa, or Christmas, or have you been a good or bad child.  But I did not want to insert a picture of my own list of 'to do's'. 

   Do you make lists ?  Perhaps here is a pertinent research topic . . . what percentage of persons make lists.  I am sure that folks other than card-carrying obsessive compulsives write reminders.
Even the smart phone  has an app for 'Memos'.

     All this came to mind just now as I was packing my brief case and consolidating items to take to my office tomorrow (Monday) morning.  And there it was . . . the yellow legal pad with already two-thirds of a page of 'forget-me-not's'.  Some are extra important . . . tomorrow is a grand-son's birthday.  Those kinds of things must not be overlooked.  Other  items, while  important, are less 'right now', perhaps 'soon'.

     While it might be a temptation to claim that this is a  recently adopted practice . . . [a kind of hedge against elderly 'intellectual interludes', a term that a friend recently offered as an alternative to the pejorative,  "Senior Moment"] . . . I have kept lists since at least high school (Now well over a half century ago). For a time, I also had a 'socially acceptable' rationale for lists . . .  I was an 'absent minded  college professor'.  That cover is long gone, not having been in a college classroom to teach since 1982.  

    I derive great satisfaction in marking through a task completed.  And I have been pleased to hear other 'listers' acknowledge that sometimes after a task has been done that was inadvertently omitted from the original list that they add it for the pure delight of striking through.

    Try it; you might like it.
        The next item on my list now is  "Publish this non-sense and go to sleep".

      Satchel

          



     

     

" . . . HOW DOES YOUR GARDEN GROW ? "

A view from the upper balcony

  What  color is  your  thumb ? . . .  for  growing  flowers, fruit, and veggies?  Mine once was reasonably green, but years  of  disuse have likely wilted and discolored it. 

   At one time I had almost a passion for growing zinnias.  Had a sizable portion of the yard devoted to multiple colors and varieties. Even had a few rose bushes. When serving a United Methodist parish, I continued the practice.  I even branched out with sunflowers,marigolds, and cockscomb.  Results with the latter were mixed even though the areas were reasonably enhanced with "nature's fertilizer" provided by dairy and poultry farmers in the parish.  

    Once in the 1970's, the zinnia 'crop' was so abundant that I loaded a Radio Flyer wagon and urged my daughter to offer them for sale to neighbors to supplement her allowance.  She initially was resistant, thinking that I was having her do it for the family budget.

    Today I thought of 'green thumbs'  and landscaping after an area newspaper's insert yesterday featured several residential lawns and gardens.  Then today the publication was 'spotlighting' lush vegetation from other gardens.  In the former, there was a picture of a boyhood friend practicing his skills on his backyard putting green.

     Unlike me, my wife has a luxuriously verdant thumb and our yard reflects her talent. In addition to various Annuals and Perennials, over the years she has regularly added to the rows of daylilies and from late Spring there is an on-going competition with the deer as to who will enjoy them more.  A few years ago, she surrendered to the deer and removed several rose bushes that were regularly serving as Breakfast Buffet for the wildlife.

Survived the Deer

The only Roses are  now grown in a pot on upper balcony 

 Moreover, she regularly spots items that to me seem just curiosity pieces but with her eye for design and placement those are transformed into art.  Such as this angel:

     Or, this 'guard dog':

      Despite the gruesome face of this sentinel, the second sign really does reflect our sentiment:

      
     The overall effect is enhanced by the professional landscaping talents of our friend, Jim. 

Jim and a recent 'project'

    As well as the fence mural by son, Tommy. (See  earlier post:"Tommy saw(yer) fence").

Earlier this Summer during his "vacation", he worked several LONG days moving lilies, removing ivy, digging out wisteria roots, and assorted other tasks.

The work of yet another artist 

     Among the 'projects' she and Jim have designed and executed :

Meditation spot; Chair out of the view

Bridge and Gate to upper side yard. Note the different view below.

Gazebo

     To accentuate the current seasonal pleasure, here are a couple of views of the 'lawn and garden' from another season.  

              Vive the Summer !
      
                   Satchel