Summer's gifts

As a child, I always looked forward to June. School was out. I could sleep until I woke up late in the morning. No pressure, no deadlines, no homework, just freedom, peace, and time to read and play. 

Our family never took vacations. We had a farm, and that meant working every single day to care for livestock, milk cows, and ensure all animals stayed within their confines. My father and his four sons worked all day, every weekday, in the fields. Summer was the growing season for peanuts, cotton, and corn. 

I was infatuated with corn. From its earliest days, when two shoots came out and tentatively tested the air, corn amazed me. Those two green shoots became a stalk with long leaves. Next, tiny ears of corn appeared on the stalks that were taller than I. I liked walking in corn rows. I felt like I was in a tunnel as the leaves reached out across the space between rows. 

As the corn matured, the plants towered over me, and the ears of corn grew fat in their husks. Silky streamers protruded from the ends, sometimes white or pink before they turned reddish-brown. They became the hair of glamorous girls in my imagination. Sometimes I stopped and braided the silks the way Mother braided my long hair. I learned that each strand of corn silk is connected with a kernel of corn.

We often had boiled corn for our midday meal, which we called dinner. It was so good with Mother's homemade butter. I hated the job of silking the corn. We had to find the tiny strings embedded between the rows of kernels. 

When I was a child, corn was not as sweet as it is today. It was always good, however. A few years ago, I bought some corn at an outdoor produce stand. The corn had been enhanced to make it extremely sweet. It did not taste natural. What disappointment! We humans think we must enhance or improve all of nature's plants to suit our cravings, sugar being one of the worst.

Here in the city where I now abide, Publix has begun buying fresh corn. My sister, Gay, has brought me several ears and I am happy to say they tasted good, not overly sweet. 

My deck garden is doing well. My squash plant has been full of yellow blooms. I hope they become crookneck squash. One of my tomato plants has three green babies, and one is beginning to blush. I can't grow corn on my deck, but I have flowers and lots of Hosta.

Yesterday, Stu, my bil, put up holders for my bird feeders and hung a plant holder on my deck. He is handy with a drill and a screw driver. He is also kind and helpful.

June is the birth month of my beloved sister, June. The 25th is embedded in my memory. I often say a little prayer of gratitude for having such a generous and loving person in my life, one of the women who made me who I am today. 

My sister, June, sitting in the chair. I miss her

If you are a regular reader, thanks so much for stopping in today. 

If you are new, please come back again soon.

June is a special month for me.

It is the beginning of summer where I live. Everything is green, flowers are blooming, and it seems to be a time when most people are smiling. Perhaps the warm weather and water sports bring out happiness in those who enjoy the sun.

Downhome on the farm, this time of year, we cleaned out the swimming pool and my brother Rex got the filter going and the chlorine in again after it had been shut down all winter. Much of our family's social life centered around that pool once the weather was warm. The water was always cold. 

Barry could spend hours there on weekends floating in his favorite pool chair. When he was a teenager, he worked as a lifeguard at the Rockmart, Georgia swimming pool every summer. He loved the water.

I was not much of a water bug and was afraid of water most of my life. 

I blame my brothers who teased me and liked to scare me when I was a little kid. They took me out in a boat on one of the farm ponds and when they rowed up to the bank to get out, instead of lifting me out, they left me in the boat and pushed it back into the pond. Of course, I was afraid they were going to leave me so I did what any kid would do -- I jumped out of the boat trying to reach land. I immediately sank like a rock in the deep murky water.

I am sure my brothers didn't expect that to happen. One of them jumped in and rescued me quickly, but that fear stayed with me most of my life. I never learned to swim very well. However, I learned to water ski with my brother, Rex, driving the boat. I wore a life jacket so was not scared of drowning.

We spent many hours at Lake Blackshear in south Georgia as guests of the Booth family. I have some great memories of those days. 

The month of June is special to me because my sister, June, was born on the 25th, in Pelham, Georgia and my brother, Ray, was born in Rubonia, Florida on June 27th two years later. Not a day passes that I don't think of them and how much I miss them. 

June and Ray, my sister and brother at the family Christmas Party 

This month is also special to me because Barry and I married on June 14. I tell my students to list the turning points in their lives. That day was a huge turning point in my life.  

Today in my world here in the mountains of western North Carolina, I cherish my memories as I work in my deck garden.

I enjoy all the plants in their pots, blooming and growing while I celebrate summer with little Lexie helping me keep the pesky squirrel from digging and uprooting my hosta. 

A pair of Eastern Bluebirds came to my door

A pair of Eastern bluebirds spent one day fluttering at my door and windows. They wanted to come inside. I have a bluebird box in the yard but think I need to clean it out from the last hatching. Maybe I should get another birdhouse for the pair that seems desperate for a place to nest right now. So many birds live around my home and I enjoy watching them.

With all the bad weather in parts of the US, I know many people are suffering from floods and tornadoes. I am afraid that climate change is wreaking havoc in places that used to be fairly safe. Stay safe and well until we meet again. 

What a summer!

Summer is definitely here. It has been a  mixed bag for me since May 12. I had plans for this summer. This year I had writing classes scheduled every month in my studio, and I am scheduled to teach four classes at the local community college in August. I had worked hard to attract good writers, who were also good instructors, to our area. I wrote articles about them for the newspapers and posted them online. I accepted registration fees and planned for snacks for the students.

In May our literary group held a writing conference, and I was involved in the planning, and more, for that event. I had not realized the stress I had taken on myself until two days after the conference. I started up my stairs from my studio and a sharp pain shot through my thigh. My left leg collapsed under me and I fell on the stairs. I was alone in my house and for a brief moment I was terrified. I thought I might have broken my hip. Although I couldn't put weight on my left leg, I didn't think anything was broken. 

The following day an  x-ray of my back showed no serious damage. Still, my hip and left leg hurt me like a bad toothache. I began treatment with my wonderful orthopedic massage therapist and my chiropractor. I was told I had periformis syndrome, a painful condition involving the periformis muscle in my low back. I was also told by my chiropractor that I had a slipped disc in my low back. Each of them gave me relief, but the relief didn't last. I was told not to sit for more than an hour. I was told to rest and learned that it could take 8 - 12 weeks for the muscle syndrome to heal. 

Meanwhile, I had become almost an invalid, unable to stand in the kitchen and make meals or load the dishwasher. I had to hire help to take out my garbage, sweep the floor, and do most of the menial chores I did every day. I didn't dare go downstairs because I wasn't sure I could come back up.

I admit this situation took a toll on my psyche. For the first time since Barry died, I felt helpless to care for myself. What was I going to do? Should I leave my home? Should I move to an assisted living facility? The previous self-assured woman who juggled duties and took on projects had become a fragile person I didn't recognize.

To make matters worse, one week after the fall on the stairs, I was exposed to a room full of perfume which triggered my multiple chemical sensitivity and created a respiratory illness. For four weeks I fought a sinus infection and then an ear infection with two rounds of  antibiotics and over the counter meds. I went to see my sister and she took such good care of me, which helped me in my healing. I recently had an x-ray of the hip and an MRI of my spine. I will likely begin a physical therapy protocol soon. So, you see why this summer has been a bummer.  Because of all the health problems, I have cancelled classes at Writers Circle for the summer.

Students gathered around the table at Writers Circle

Forced retirement was not on my radar, but I am beginning to get used to waking up with no schedule of tasks awaiting me. I feel like someone who has been carrying a heavy stone for a long time and didn't realize how much it weighed me down until I dropped it.

I made up my mind that I will do nothing but what is good for me, what I want to do, until I get over these setbacks. I decided to look forward to what the future holds for me and not look back. I have learned that I can re-invent myself as I did five years ago.

The new me will not try to multitask, not feel driven to accomplish too many goals. I accept my limitations and look forward to new experiences and challenges. As soon as I can walk without pain, breathe without effort, and get my energy level up to par, I know I will be back to seeing my friends, my family, and enjoying these beautiful mountains where I am so fortunate to live.