Thankful Sunday--June 15, 2014

I am thankful for my father.

My father passed away a year ago, and I still think about him every day. I am thankful for the life he gave me and how he showed me the value of working hard and following your passions.

Below are a few memories I have shared about him in the past.

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Happy Father's Day

Vanilla ice cream was the family favorite.

When I was little, my father was larger than life. He did the obvious of working hard and providing for our needs, but it was the other things I noticed. Youth is like that. Nothing could equal the thrill I got from riding on his shoulders, or the feeling of flying when he pushed me in the tree swing. I loved carrying his lunch pail and was proud when I could stretch my legs to match his stride. When I got too big to ride on his shoulders, he made things fun in other ways. He fixed the lights at the local swimming pool so we could swim all summer for free. And he made sure we always had ice cream.

Then there was the summer I turned thirteen when I was at camp on a week long canoe trip. One night we ended up camping unscheduled in a farmer's field because of a sudden thunderstorm. We got permission from his sons to camp in their field, but not from their father because he wasn't home. As we were pitching our tents, the dad showed up and was quite upset about our trespassing. After a bit of explanation and negotiation, he said we could stay the night. However, it was obvious that he wasn't happy about it.

After things had calmed down a bit, I mentioned that my family used to live in the area. He asked a couple of questions and soon realized who my father was. His face lit up because my father used to be his fishing buddy. He said that Red (my father's nickname) was a fine man. The farmer said no more, but soon his sons showed up. They carried our water, gathered our firewood, and did anything else they could think of to help. So even though he wasn't there, my father was still making things right. He turned what could have been a tense, difficult night into a good one.

On this Father's Day, I want to thank my father for watching out for me in many different ways, and for making sure that we always had ice cream.

Grammar mistakes

Recently, I have been finding what I think are way too many writing mistakes in my posts after they're published and I'm embarrassed by them. Then I remembered a post I did about this a while back and thought I would rerun it. Apparently, I'm still working on the "Get Over It Already" concept. 

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Mistakes

or Get Over It Already

My writing helpers otherwise known as my excuses.

Do you ever read something someone has written such as a letter, email, or an article and find mistakes? Then you wonder how someone could make mistakes so obvious and think, "Shouldn't they know better or at least proofread their work better?" Well, I do that all of the time when I read my own blog posts. Unfortunately, I usually find the problems long after I hit publish and it drives me crazy.

However, I'm trying to get over that. I'm trying not to worry about mistakes I may make because that takes away from the pleasure of communicating with all of you. I am trying to accept that I am doing the best I can under the circumstances. Sometimes those circumstances involve constantly removing one cat from in front of the monitor while another is trying to get on my lap. Sometimes I am writing when I'm really tired so I can publish a post the next morning before I go to work. Sometimes Blogger spacing is not working, so I am concentrating on that instead of concentrating on what I am writing. And sometimes I'm confused because it seems all the grammar rules that I thought I once knew have changed.

But wait, there I go again. I'm making excuses for my blog imperfections instead of accepting that good enough is good enough. While I will try to write well when writing for my blog, life is too short to worry about occasional misplaced modifiers and misspelled words. And that is what I'm going to keep telling myself until I really believe it.

Note: Sometimes I have an idea for a post and the words and the pictures just come together effortlessly and flawlessly. Wow, I love that feeling.

Celebrity Encounters--sort of, Part Two

Celebrity Encounters--Sort of, Part One

Mount Auburn

It was a pleasantly warm day in Boston. After having a very filling lunch with Ward's sister and family, we were deciding how we wanted to spend the afternoon. The lunch had lulled us into a lazy-afternoon-feeling, so we decided to stroll among some gardens of the area which were in full spring bloom. One of them was the Mount Auburn Cemetery. Now I'm not one to visit cemeteries regularly, but this one had more to see than usual. It was founded in 1831 and was America's first landscaped cemetery as well as the first large scale green space open to the public. Today it is an arboretum/botanical garden, a bird sanctuary, as well as a place steeped in history.

We arrived too late for a formal tour so we wandered around in the visitors center where I picked up a map. It was then that I got a gleam in my eye and a little spring in my step. I asked the others what part they wanted to see and there were no firm answers. Ward's sister pointed to a certain road on the map and said that this area was one of her favorites—perfect. Just where I wanted to go.

You see, the map included the locations of 62 notable sites of the over 1000 notable people who were buried there. I had already picked out the first two graves I wanted to visit—James Russel Lowell and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and they were in the same area that Sis pointed to. Now how was I going to say that I wanted to celebrity grave hop without sounding too shallow? I managed to mumble something about using a quote from James Russel Lowell in my high school graduation speech and how I admired him. So we set off in that direction.

While the others were enjoying the blooming dogwoods and azaleas, I hopped out of the car to search the headstones. After a bit of looking, I found the Lowell family. I went round and round and found every name except James Russell. I had to console myself with his wife's spot. She apparently was a well known poet also. Next to find Henry. After going back and forth several times, it was determined that I needed to climb a hill to find his spot. So off I went for a climb while the others enjoyed the scenery from the comfort of the car. Henry was a bit easier to find. He too was surrounded by his family.

The afternoon was waning and we had to leave soon. I had the urge to do one more blitz for a famous monument sighting, but knew that we had something much more important to do. We were going to visit my brother-in-law's parents' grave. I have to admit that while I didn't get the same thrill as I did with my famous sightings, this was a much more meaningful stop. We talked about his parents and learned family jokes. We asked questions and he told stories. We left Mt. Auburn with a smile while enjoying the beautiful scenery and memories of two important family members.

(And, okay, I had some pictures of some famous people's graves. :) )

A Second Look--June 11, 2014

Official summer is just around the corner and the flowers in the yard are starting to look summery--meaning many of the spring flowers are fading while many of the summer flowers are blooming. The bees and other insects seem happy with these developments as I am seeing more bees and other insects than ever before.

And speaking of seeing things, I saw a box turtle today hiding in the grass. When I saw it, I realized that I don't think I've seen a box turtle for the 15+ years we've lived here. I always saw them in the woods when I was a kid, but not so much any more. I don't know where the turtle came from and where it was going, but it was in no hurry to get there. :)

Here are some things I saw this week

 during a Second Look.

Stella Dora Day Lily--This variety is supposed to keep blooming all summer long. We'll see if that happens this year in its new location with more sun. For the last 3 years, we've only gotten one set of blooms from them.

Pansies--A few of the pansies are still blooming nicely but most are done. Soon, I'm going to trade them out for summer annuals. Soon--meaning any day now for the last month.

Astilbe--The name of that bug escapes me right now.

Iris--These have spread in a bed that had been overgrown with weeds. We got that bed cleaned out this spring and found them. Before that, the bed had mostly bearded iris. Not sure what kind these are.

We've been having a fair amount of rain--mostly in the form of thunderstorms. As a consequence, mushrooms are starting to pop up.

Hottuynia--This plant is known to grow invasively (aka-groundcover), so I planted it in a small space surrounded by concrete on all sides. However, this year it's finding a way to escape. Gonna have to keep it pulled.

Geranium--Rozanne

Blue Jay

Box turtle

Celebrity encounters--sort of

I have to admit it. I'm impressed by famous people. Well, maybe not impressed—let's say fascinated. I'd like to say that everyone has value and no one's value is more important than anyone else. And I believe that, but I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't at least a little bit excited when I'm around someone famous. And I think I'm normal in that way. Psychologists say that some form of this fascination has been going on since the beginning of time. Early on it may have been advantageous to know about those in charge and emulate them. And things evolved from there.

So do I have any interesting stories to tell about meeting someone famous? Well, sort of. There was the time I was at a conference and had a conversation with the governor of WV, John D. Rockefeller IV. At that time I was more impressed with how tall he was (6' 7”) than who he was. (I was a teen. I had an excuse for being shallow.) And then there's country singer and song writer, Tom T. Hall, who used to work at the radio station where I grew up. I don't remember him from then, but learned some interesting things about him several years later when he returned to town, now famous, for a concert. I rode home from the concert with the man who used to be his dentist (my friend's father) and learned all about his dental work over the years. How's that for intimate details of the rich and famous?

But my biggest celebrity encounter was with Bubba Knight, from Gladys Knight and the Pips. I was on business travel and checking into a hotel and beside me was a man also checking in. After they confirmed my reservation, the clerk said, “Ms. Cleaver, this is Bubba.” I wasn't sure what she was talking about, but said, “Hi.” She repeated, “Ms. Cleaver, this is Bubba. Bubba Knight. Bubba Knight of Gladys night and the Pips.” Finally it registered.  I was standing next to someone famous. “Hello, Bubba. Can I have your autograph?” He gladly signed my paper and it was then I noticed that he was wearing a purple suit. That should have clued me in on something earlier. (Gladys is famous for wearing purple.) 

Bubba's flowery handwriting seemed to match his purple suit.

But this "fascinating" encounter doesn't stop there. After I got his autograph, I proceeded to my room, but it turns out that it was already occupied by a couple of men. I guess in all of the excitement that things got messed up at the desk. The men volunteered to switch rooms, but I said that I would get another one. Trying to compensate for my inconvenience, they asked if I would like to have dinner with them. Well, they seemed nice enough, but I thought it wouldn't be too wise to go out with two strange men I just met. But with that decision, I blew my chance for an even bigger celebrity encounter. It turns out that they were old high school buddies of Gladys and her brother, Bubba, and were in town for a reunion. So, I almost had dinner with Gladys Knight. However, the best I got to see was  her drinking a cup of coffee at breakfast the next day.

So, Bubba was my biggest celebrity encounter for many years. In fact, he held top spot until recently when I “met” someone who was not only famous, but had truly stood the test of time proving that he deserved his fame.. And I met him in a place I least expected. Soon I'll tell you all about it.