Winter rain, Jan. 21, 1996

And then came the rain - it poured and the wind blew.  We had all available piepans out on the deck and the drip, drip, drip made its own song.  Grampa was amazed at how much one of the bushes had grown - till we went out there, and found out it was our cedar tree uprooted.  So now we are going to have a flag pole made out of it.

On Sat., Jan. 20, my 38th (I think) great-grandchild was born to Jim and Betsy (Uncle Tim's son), Mary Margaret - to be called Meg.

Grampa just came in - wants to know when we are going to have supper.  He has been sitting out in the oversized gazebo and he hasn't gotten dressed yet.  We went down to get milk - Grampa in his pjs and slippers.  I guess you know who went in for the milk.

Mon. morn - Grampa has taken the car over for lube etc. and I am having a cup of coffee and watching 2 squirrels at the feeder.  One chases the other away and then comes back and feeds his face while he is watching me.  You can go right up to the window and talk to him before he scampers away.  It almost looks like Spring, we can actually see the green grass, and right now there is some sunshine.

I can just imagine a day like this - windy, rainy, where you don't want to get out of your pajamas... I love how Grammie still makes it poetic and humorous.  She noticed all the little things that most people pass by: the song of a leaky roof, the silliness in a trip to the corner store, the tantalizing signs of a new season peeking around the corner.

Just today, in the heart of an Indiana February, my 4 year old son mentioned it seemed like summer.  "What do you mean?" I asked him, as I looked out at the frigid, snow-covered world.  "The birds are chirping and it's sunny," he replied matter-of-factly.

He can see it, too, Gram...

At the Farm, Dec. 12, 1995

When we came up here last Tuesday we walked into winter - cold.  And on Wednesday morn there were 5" of snow to greet us - so white and such beautiful shadows on the snow.  And we didn't have our cameras.  Then on Saturday it snowed some more 7 1/2".  It has been bitterly cold and I would love to go out, but I have a bad throat and although it is slowly getting better I don't want to go out in the bitter weather.

Uncle Peter came up early Saturday morn and started packing books.  He took home quite a few boxes but there are many more to go and Aunt Gertrude wants to look at each and every one of them.  Well, I was here when the first boxes were taken from the barn and put on the library shelves and now I am here to see the dismantling of the library.  But I'm sure Uncle Allan is happy to know the books are going to Uncle Peter and your Dad.

Winters at Rowen Farm were often harsh, but so beautiful, with the pure white snow covering the hills.  Some of my best sledding memories come from there - whizzing down the long, long hills with my sister.  Our great-uncle Allan went, too - when he was in his eighties!  We thought that he was just the coolest person.  He was a Latin teacher, and his library at the farm was a place of intrigue.  It was an addition to the farmhouse, and he had it lined floor-to-ceiling and wall-to-wall with bookshelves chock full of books.  There was a fireplace, and a few assorted chairs and tables.  I recall books on those, and on the floor as well.  It seemed to be overflowing with the written word.  What treasures, what ancient knowledge, might we find among the pages?  Our favorite was the edition of the Oxford English dictionary that filled an entire shelf, all on its own.  This edition was several volumes in size, and contained etymology as well as meaning for the words.  We loved looking through it to discover bits of the history of our language.

Once, we measured the total length of the OED volumes - about 4 feet in all!  Our young selves were convinced it was the longest book in the world - right there in our great-uncle's library...

Porch sleeping, Nov. 21, 1995

Last night, just as we were ready to fall asleep we heard what sounded like a herd of elephants surrounding the house.  Well, it was a raccoon coming to the bird feeder.  His paw prints were on the stairs this morn and he must have peeped in the door at us.  Grampa got up and took down the feeders and the suet for the rest of the night.  This was one time that I'm really glad the porch is closed in.

Notice the palm tree growing the in the "deer basket."  The tree really has grown since we first planted it.  The plant beside it is a cactus and has been beautiful.  It blooms twice a year, in the summer and in the fall.

After my high school graduation, some friends and I took a trip to Disney World.  I brought back a little palm tree for Grammie & Grampa.  I figured that if anyone could get a tropical plant to grow and thrive in the cold Connecticut winters, it would be them.  I was right - that palm tree lasted for years.

This picture shows the window in Gram's dining room - full of plants and knick-knacks.  It sure brightened up many a dreary winter day.

First snow, Nov. 14, 1995

Grampa and Aunt Gertrude are sound asleep.  I feel like a mother who has just put her children to bed for a nap and now I must be quiet so as not to wake them.

Today we are having our first snowstorm - not a very big one.  I think there is enough to "track a cat" which means there will be 13 more snowfalls this winter.  I always get a certain feeling when that first storm arrives, it is the beginning of a new season.  I had a dear friend, and the first snowstorm found us heading for the hills of Lake Garda with a toboggan, a sled, or skis, or just to walk in the snow - two carefree spirits.  As we got older and had other commitments (kids), one of us would call the other when the first snow fell.  Eventually, she died of lung cancer, but I still think of her when the first snow flies.

Lake Garda [in Burlington, CT] was on land owned by my grandfather Jones when I was a baby.  Our family used to have picnics down by the brook.  Later, the guy who bought it made a lake there and as I got older, we swam there and roamed the hills that once belonged to my Grandpa.

It was a good feeling to wake up and look out at the trees, all covered with snow and to know that we were snug in our bed - still on the porch.  But that gallon jug of HOT water stays warm all night and therefore I just move it from cold spot to cold spot.

The first snow!  Still a delight to behold - how the fresh coating makes the world seem quiet and sparkling new again.  Grammie always talked of an old wives' tale, that the date of the first snow fall where there was enough to "track a cat" would signal the number of snowstorms that season.  So, as it fell on the 14th in this letter, there would be a total of 14 snowfalls, with enough snow on the ground to track a cat.  My sister and I love this tale, and we still mark the dates to see how close they come to being true.  There is some wiggle room, of course, since I've never actually tried to track a cat, and so don't know just how much snow is required....


Do you mark the first snow as a special time?  What a wonderful legacy Gram and her friend created together - taking time to remember each other and their childhood adventures on that one day of the year.  Gram's friend's name has been lost to me, but both their spirits live on.  When the first snow flies, I think of them as girls together - arm in arm, giggling and tromping through the snow, their sled pulled behind them, excited to feel the rush of the cold wind as they slide down a hill - carefree.

Fall, Nov. 6, 1995

The beginnings of each season are the best - and each season has its own smell.  One of my favorite times was when my Dad put up the stove and we had our first fire - oh the smell of the wood burning and the warmth gave the house a whole different feeling.  Or leaves burning (can't do that anymore!) - but it always brought so many things to mind.  Nowadays burning leaves smells like marijuana.  How times have changed.

Our trip down from Vermont was beautiful especially around the green in Burpville [Belchertown, MA].  There are so many birds around chattering away and pushing each other away from the food - like a bunch of little kids.  It was 22 degrees when we woke up this morn on our porch.  Needless to say - I had on long johns under my flannel PJs - winter undershirt, and socks.  Last night the stars were so brilliant, and the sky was so pretty, but it was too cold to linger long looking - warmer under the blankets.

The smell of a wood fire always brings Grammie to mind for me - mainly because of our campfires at Rowen farm, but also because it signals the start of fall and cool weather.  Gram and Grampa would sleep on their enclosed porch from spring through until fall.  I was always amazed how long they stayed out there.  But they had ingenious ways of keeping warm: long johns under pajamas, hats and mittens, lots of blankets, and hot water bottles!  I know of only a few hardy souls nowadays who would be willing to sleep like that, but to them it was a bit of an adventure and a point of pride - and another way to stay one step closer to nature.

Kentucky, Oct. 9, 1995, part 3

Our next stop was Mammoth Caves State Park.  We got off the beaten track and went into Tennessee where it was pouring, but we soon found our way back to Kentucky and the sun.  This is a good place if you are cave people.  Well, you know we are not.  They didn't even show us a good orientation film.  So we took a boat ride on the Green River.  It really was green and murky.  Lots of small caves along the way, a blue heron and lots of turtles getting the sun on the many fallen tree trunks...

Grampa has talked of having a mint julep - a southern drink you read about in old Civil War times especially.  Well, some of the people didn't know what he meant.  So at supper that night when Grampa mentioned it, the waiter brought him a drink of water with a lime and a mint leaf saying that was the closest he could come to a mint julep.

So on to Cumberland Falls State Park - so many barns, all shapes and sizes in all states of disrepair or brand new.  This State Park has a naturalist, and Uncle Arthur got to talk to him.  This is not a very big Falls but it is the only place that has a moonbow.  It has to be a very clear night (full moon) and then there is a moonbow over the Falls - very similar to a rainbow - 'cept it is at night.  But, alas - it was a bit rainy and cloudy - I would love to see it.

At supper that night, we watched a family of very cute racoons and two skiunks come eat stale rolls the staff threw out for them.  The windows go to the ground in all the dining rooms so there is always a good view.  One skunk had a very broad white stripe down his back - very little black.

Next day it was on to Jenny Wiley State Park - very beautiful and the very best cabins.  Jenny was captured by the Indians and after a few months and many hardships, she escaped and found her way back to her husband.  Here we saw lots of birds just standing on the cabin deck.  We took a walk and saw lots more.  Uncle Arthur was very pleased...

Next morning, we took leave of o so friendly Kentucky and headed home.  More color in the trees as we headed north - and so back to Lebanon.

What a wonderful trip this sounds like!  Touring all these state parks and enjoying the nature and history they have to offer - even the skunks.  But Grammie was always happiest to be back home in Lebanon, Connecticut!

Kentucky, Oct. 9, 1995, part 2

On to J.J. Audubon State Park.  This is very wooded and a most elegant building where there is a very good museum.  There was a wedding at 2 that afternoon and after our walk to try to find the pileated woodpecker, we watched the bride have pictures taken.  She had 9 attendants...

I walked to the top of the tower in the building 'cause I didn't want to miss anything, but alas, there was nothing to see but an empty room.  So much for about 100 stairs.  The trails were very well laid out in this park - wide and very tall trees.  After supper, Jo and I went to a tent sale and I bought 3 pairs of shorts for $5.00.

The next morning, we went for another walk, but didn't see the pileated woodpecker - darn!  Then we headed for Pennyrile State Park, named for the penny royal plant (mint) that once grew around there.  On the way we saw fields of what looked like low-growing yellow flowers - learned later it is soy beans - beautiful...  

This cabin was down a very steep hill, had to use your walking brakes carrying our luggage down to the cabin.  Then further down the hill, was the lake and we had our own private dock.  Grampa and I sat there for about 3 hours watching a spider weave its web - the fish jumping out of the water - the turtles' heads coming up to catch flies - the winds riling the lake - then the calmness of the lake and the reflections of the sky and clouds and mountains in the quiet lake.  So many changes and we sat there and watched and enjoyed.  And that's where the pileated woodpecker flew overhead.

Gram and Grampa loved watching birds.  They had several birdhouses and birdfeeders in their backyard.  Grampa even constructed a wooden "Flight Control Tower" at the birdfeeder on their back porch.  They loved to sit at their dining room table and watch the birds' antics.

On this trip, they were hoping to see the pileated woodpecker.  Apparently these woodpeckers are quite large, almost the size of crows.  The last paragraph Gram writes here is wonderful.  I can just picture the two of them sitting in lawn chairs down by the lake, gazing at the beauty that surrounded them.  Here, they took a break and stopped searching, and the thing they'd been searching for found them.

A good reminder for all of us to take a breath once in a while and look around.  Maybe the things we are searching for will turn out to be close at hand, as well.