Category Archives: family

Sep21

39 Degrees!

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Brrr!  It got down to 39 degrees one  night this week!  We found shelter for our tropicals, since the greenhouse is still being rebuilt.  Our garage makes a nice make-shift greenhouse.  Some tropicals have new homes already.  Like that 12-foot fiddle leaf fig.  It is repotted into a beautiful red ceramic pot and placed inside our parents’ condo with a cathedral ceiling, only 2 miles away.  We can still care for it until we get an eager buyer.  Then there is our biggest hibucus that will be transplanted into a bigger pot next week, as well as our big bird of paradise.  These too will be 2 miles from us.  Some of our littler tropicals make their way to my full-time workplace.  We have a large foyer near the elevator with windows nearby.  Deanna Greens and Garden Art plants will like their new indoor home for the autumn and winter months.  Tomorrow we will have mild weather for the 1st day of autumn. I love autumn, the palette it sets.  And the cooler, crisp air.  Wind blowing in the leaves.  The bittersweet of autumn is saying “good bye” to some of the summer flowers I have so much enjoyed in my yard.  The greenhouse will be filled with green life once again in a matter of days.

Sep12

Sharing Life

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Sharing life with those who surround me has helped me grow.  Like the 12-foot fig tree we pulled from the greenhouse in May.  It needed to be pulled out of the ground, taproot and all in order to move to our yard while the greenhouse is being rebuilt.  Apparently, it loves the companionship of our biggest,oldest maple tree as it has shot more fresh leaves in these 4 months than it had in past 4 years.  This maple tree has been struck by lightening and storm winds over the years.  It is bare in some places, missing branches and foliage.  Kind of “bald”, and showing its age.  But it provided shelter to another plant this record high-temp summer.   Sharing life.   So back to me.  I suppose there are days I ask “why do I care?” when a reward is not in sight such as a pay raise or guaranteed friendship.  Yet, I share my lfe, talents, and hard work for the betterment of my fellow man and woman.  As incomplete as I am, through Jesus I am complete.  The grace of God.  I want to see others grow, flourish, and bloom.  I want to encourage my employees to take care of themselves, and I find joy providing the tools to do so.  I want my children to love unconditionally; each other, their significant others, children, and those they are surrounded with.  I want my husband to know without a doubt he is loved just the way he is.  I want my grandfather, parents, and siblings to know I love them, and still need them in my life no matter how old I am.  Sharing life, no matter what your circumstances, condition, or age you are in, is worth it.  Watch how others grow … and yourself.

Aug16

Sliver of Pink

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At dusk the sunset shown scattered slivers of pink while driving to St. Charles County from Pike County.  It reminded me of the sliver of  pink on my father’s cheeks Grandpa pointed out while he and I visited Dad last evening.  My 97-year old grandfather had not been able to make the 1-hour trip to see his son for 7 weeks due to the  summer heat wave and car engine malfunctions.   We made this trip possible especially this week.  Hospice care seems to think this may be my father’s last week.  The two, father and son greeted each other with gladness in their hearts and faces.  Something I will never forget. 

It seems wrong for a father to say “goodbye” to his son, no matter how old you are. 

Their last words “You take care, son.”  “See you later, Pops!”

Good bye is not forever … Thank You, Jesus for eternal life!

Aug10

I Felt The Air Change Today

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I felt a whisper of refreshing air last night while in the screen house  repotting succulents into darling little vintage pots … maybe?  Early today I stood by the opened patio door to hear the morning greetings of our feathered friends, and I felt the air change.  Yes, autumn is around the corner!  Every year for over 40 years, I have said those words “I felt the air change today”.  I grew up watching the weather and hearing about it from my farmer father.  He would read the Farmer’s Almanac, have a weather ban radio playing in his office every morning, evening, and on occasions of severe weather threats. Mostly I remember the feeling when a shift in air direction and the front would roll in with clouds and sometimes rain with it.  And then the refreshing change.  Awe!  Autumn in 4 – 6 weeks, and saying goodbye to sizzling summer.  My oldest daughter remembers these words well, too.  Rachel wrote a poem about these words, her mother saying them, and autumn.  And we chatted today about those words …

The woods begin to vibrate with gathering and preparation. 

The sounds so crisp, electric.

Her words were “I felt the air change today.”

Red, orange, yellow, green, brown.

They dance while falling.

A choreographed waltz.

Every year she said “I felt the air change today.”

Beautiful, breathtaking, loyal.

The Canvas.

I think I felt the air change today.

Aug3

Time

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“Time, you left me standing there
Like a tree growing all alone
The wind just stripped me bare
Stripped me bare
Time, the past has come and gone, gone
The future’s far away
An hour only lasts for one second, one second

Time without courage, time without fear
Is just wasted, wasted, wasted time
Oh, oh, oh, ooh ooh ooh

Time, why you punish me?”

These lyrics from Hootie and the Blowfish’s song “Time” keep playing in my mind tonight.  This post is continuation of my thoughts in my last post written 5 hours ago.  I cried when I walked upon that boat dock at Island Lake last week.  I felt my father’s spirit with me, though in body he could not be there with me.  Valhalla was Dad’s favorite place to do his favorite thing, fish.  Such an appropriate name. “Valhalla” is the Viking’s heaven after he dies from warfare.  My father has been fighting such a battle.  Dad’s days are running short.  He is dying of brain cancer, and I keep thinking about his life.  Dean & I visited his father, my 96-year old grandfather last evening.  Grandpa Earl tells us stories of his childhood and my father’s childhood.  Yet he is cognitive enough to ask about his oldest son, my father.  A copy of a photo arrived in the mail today from my cousin.  A 1945 family portrait of my Grandpa Earl, Grandma Anna, Dad, and Uncle Earl.  Mom called this evening on the way home from work.  A hospital bed is being delivered to their Bowling Green home.  Yes, the bed my father will be in when he passes from this life.  God, I am so thankful for my father, Martin Kenneth Bates.  He has been strength to this family for many years.  And now we are his strength.  He will be with You soon.  And I will miss him greatly.  I do not want pain for him, just Your peace, comfort, and rest.

Aug3

The Big Dipper and the Northern Sky

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My Dean & I so enjoyed our stay at Valhalla Resort on Island Lake outside of Detroit Lakes, Minnesota.  It was a peaceful vacation, time to slow down our pace.  Our stay included meals with friends, walks, swims, and fireside chats with tales of old.   Friends shared stories of our childhood sparking laughter one after the other.  One evening turned into a 1:00am departure from the dwindling campfire.  A night owl called to us, or maybe he was talking to the rabbit hiding in the bushes.  Bugs chirped.  All dogs and cats had long since retired to their favorite beds.  As Dean & I walked to our lakeside cabin, we saw the Milky Way.  The Big Dipper shone so brightly in the clear northern sky.  It brought to memory my father sitting a boat nestled near the dock for that particular summer night, telling a young audience how to tell time from The Big Dipper.  My friends recalled this, too.  It seemed like yesterday …  Dad seemed to explain it so easily that we understood it. Here are a few web links on telling time with the stars: http://www.johnpratt.com/items/astronomy/telltime.html, http://www.av8n.com/physics/star-time.htm,  http://www.physics.ucla.edu/~huffman/dtime.html

Jul16

The Dew of Little Things

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“For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed,”  Khalil Gibran shares with us.  It was a “little things day” yesterday.  I awoke early Sunday morning as usual, even after 3 of my grandkids’ slumber party continued well past my bedtime Saturday night, which needs to be at 9:00pm!  After perusing the yard, taking in the morning sunlight, I returned to my kitchen to cook eggs, sausage, and toast before the little ones and my exhausted husband awoke.  He was up late working on the jeep, trying to take apart the layers to access any engine damage.  It looks like it is “fatal” as Dean says.   Shopping for a new engine now, or a new vehicle.   I let my husband work on those details while I played and relaxed with the grandkids.   We watered the plants and played with the hose a bit.   Frisbee and the neighbors’ dogs filled up the rest of the morning.  After our afternoon nap and quiet time I feel refreshed.  We watched a hummingbird visit the canna blossom.  We played with a bouncy ball, colored, and watched a movie.   I showed my granddaughters how to propogate cuttings of wandering jew and swedish ivy.  The slower pace of the children quieted my spirit, even in the chasing after my 2-year old grandson.  “The dew of little things …” 

Jun21

Close In Many Ways

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My identical twin sister and I are close in many ways.  Of course, we are close in age.  But our looks, height, weight, markings, hair color, skin color, etc are very close as well.    Those young childhood years we were instant playmates.  Though during the junior and senior high school years we developed our own interests and friendships.  So many personality traits are different.   Yet we share a common interest in organic gardening, art, and the simplicity in living as mature adults.  There is a close, understood  bond with twins.  And as we get older, this rings true in our relationship.  Here we are, my twin sister Margie & I at age 2.  I would love to hear your twin story.

Jun8

Friends Forever

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I dedicate this post to my Aunt Shirley & Uncle Lee, childhood sweethearts and best friends for life.  They were married 50 years ago in May.  The 1st photo displays the fun loving couple I will always remember in my heart, and their friends and family.  Included are my father (to the left of the bride) and my mother (to the right of the groom).   The 2nd photo is at their 50th wedding anniversary celebration with their children and grandchildren.  We lost dear Aunt Shirley on June 6 after many months of battling lung cancer, she died from a seizure.  I love you, Aunt Shirley and Uncle Lee.