Jocko

There is a "Jocko" statue that sits outside the door of a small cottage in our village. I pass it almost daily and for years have felt offended by it...feeling that it is racist in some way. It disappeared recently and I wondered if someone had stolen it or destroyed it thinking as I have all these years. I looked up the origin of these "lawn jockeys" and found a rich history wrapped up in these statues.
At 3am on December 26, 1776 George Washington's colonial army in Pennsylvania crossed the Delaware river and attacked the British at Trenton, New Jersey. Legend has it Washington's groomsman, a 12-year-old slave boy named Jocko Graves, stayed on the Pennsylvania shore taking care of Washington's horses, holding up a lantern to mark the location. The legend continues by saying that Jocko, who was found frozen to death on the Pennsylvania shore while still holding the lantern when Washington returned at noon on December 26, 1776. Upon Washington's return to his Mount Vernon, Virginia home, he was so inspired by Jocko's heroism, he commissioned a cast iron statue of Jocko holding a lantern and called it the "Faithful Groomsman." The "welcome/coming home" theme of these statues started here, and with an ironic double meaning: "coming home" being also used as a metaphor for "dying and going to heaven" from Christian theology. The last name "Graves" associated with the statue also offers a cryptic allusion to a cemetery grave.


There has been some controversy concerning the presence of these African-American statues. The statue tells a story of hope for many slaves who traveled the Underground Railroad. The homes that offered safe haven for slaves as they traveled the Underground Railroad would place one of these statues outside their homes to alert the weary travelers of a safe place to rest. The area in which we live is rich in Underground Railroad history. I am so glad I did a little research into these statues to discover that young Jocko was indeed, a hero.

Random Friday Photos

We are wrapping up another school year and we have a Kindergarten Graduate. Aren't he and his teacher adorable?

Our three oldest musicians performed in an excellent spring concert.

Turns out that little critters can be cuddly and fun. Who woulda thought?

The storms continue to come in one after the other.

We experienced heavy hail that destroyed most of our plants outside. This poor Gerbera Daisy is still standing strong despite the damage to its poor petals. The Hostas and Black Eyed Susan's did not fare as well. My heart goes out to those effected by all the horrible tornadoes.

AND, the pièce de résistance are these new lounge pants that I am going to enjoy basking in over the three day weekend WITH a cup of joe, or two or three!

Happy MEMORIAL Weekend to all!!!

These guys were hanging around the pasture complaining about the rain.

You'd be grumpy too if your horns looked like these.

This one had the most beautiful brindle coat but he didn't care.

The bull calf was disappointed I didn't have anything to eat. He had the most gorgeous eyelashes.


Have a good Wednesday.

Clarity

I tend to analyze, contemplate and OVER think EVERYTHING. I think heavily on the "Why?" "How?" "What?" and "What ifs" of life. Always a worrier and one with a chronic NEED to follow the rules and stay INSIDE the box just adds to the mix really slowing me down and bogging down my brain.

I am learning to CLEAR my head in the simplest of ways...each morning simply turning off our road on to our exercise path and heading DOWN this seemingly endless path clears my head if only for an hour enabling me to face the day with optimism and hope.


Despite the rain, the flowers (and weeds) are blooming and there is not a day that I do not share the path with deer, rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks and birds of all varieties.

Rain or shine this path offers me a few minutes to think and reason and make sense of things that really don't make sense. It allows me to decide to accept something in my life or abort the mission of the moment.

It allows me clarity.

Oh glorious DAY!

The sun shone today. THAT is a VERY big deal here in the Midwest...we have not seen the sun for ANY length of time for over a month. It is absolutely exhilarating to be OUTSIDE and feel its warmth and SEE blue sky and fluffy clouds.


That wonderful man of mine knew I was itching to get out and get my gardening started but it has been IMPOSSIBLE to till the soil. My garden was more like a mud pit, until now...


I get so excited to get all the herbs and vegetables in the ground. I am already scheming all the good dinners we are going to have using all that produce.


I've got work to do!



Have a wonderful weekend friends. I hope you have sunshine too.

Driving

I spend a lot of time driving. I like it. (Please note: I do not like how much it costs to fill the limo with gasoline these days though!) I like it best when I am alone, with a cup of coffee and a compact disc of MY choice...a little reprieve from the rat race! I do not live IN a city so appreciate the views of city life. Traffic doesn't bother me as it gives me the opportunity to look around and do a little people watching.

Then, I am always pleased to come back home where I often have to drive quite slow because there is a tractor in front of me.

They're BACK!

I threw together my first batch of Hummingbird Nectar today. My neighbor told me how to whip up some sugar nectar and the Hummingbirds love it. Simply melt one cup sugar into four cups boiling water, cool and store in a milk jug in the fridge.

I filled up the feeder as we had seen one of our little friends buzzing around the front porch.



I love their feisty little personalities! BIG ATTITUDE/small bird. It is NOT easy to photograph Hummingbirds!

In my perfectly organized,scheduled,controlled corner of the world I unsuccessfully intend to obliterate ALL weeds...UNwanted things that they are...

yet they are STRONG, resilient and somewhat unexpected...

they are beautiful and diverse, adding color where NO COLOR can really survive

boldly showing themselves with vigor and strength...

I will never obtain perfection so I am slowly learning to enbrace the weeds.


"What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered."
~Ralph Waldo Emerson, Fortune of the Republic, 1878.

New life in spring

Momma Robin was NONE to pleased to have her beautiful eggs photographed. She angrily chirped her displeasure.

The Kildeer have been busy laying eggs in our drive. We carefully mark each nest with a tree flag so as not to crush the eggs coming and going. Aren't they beautiful?

Olfactory Memory refers to the recollection of odors. Have you ever had a memory come rushing back simply because you smelled an old, familiar smell? Some memories may not be pleasant but for the most part I have distinct, striking yet pleasant olfactory memories.

Peonies and Lilacs in bloom at my childhood home

Savory chicken frying at Mamaw's house

Old Spice...my late grandfather's aftershave of choice

Coast soap...

Burying my face in my babies sweet downy hair and necks

Nana Boo's home...

OLD books...the yellow, musty pages of the past

I will most likely never smell many of these scents again yet they come to me from time to time and just like looking at an old photograph...they make me smile. For a brief moment, I go back in time and enjoy.

~photo credit: wonderfulphotos.com

A mother's love for her child is like nothing else in the world.
It knows no law, no pity, it dates all things and
crushes down remorselessly on all that stands in its path.

-Agatha Christie, "The Last Seance"


~google image

Happy Mother's Day to MY mother...one of THE most amazing women I have ever known.

Random Snaps

The geese have proclaimed The Glen a Wetland Preserve. We will be very happy when there is no more standing water.

THIS face showed up at The Glen this week...I think she is staying.

I drive by this horse almost daily...he always strikes me as being lonely.

I love this little Barber Shop.

In the midst of the rain my new Crabapple bloomed.

This sign is a daily reminder that life is a a bit unpredictable.

Sisters

I am constantly observant of the beautiful relationship between my two girls. I did not have a sister and the complicated mechanisms that drive sisterhood is such a blessing. They love each other fiercely yet will fight with such vigor that it ruffles me at times. My mother (who has SEVEN sisters) and my friends with sisters remind me that THIS is "the way it goes." As the girls are getting older I am in awe of the time they spend laying across their beds chatting clothes, music, social relationships, doing hair, holding hands and playing extravagant games of imagination. It warms my heart when I eavesdrop happen to hear them. Emma's birthday was yesterday and she was given a gift from the heart:

Dear Emma,
I love you so, so, so, so very much. I hope you'll always remember this birthday. You're my favorite sister and you have to be because you are my only sister. But, if I had another sister you would be my favorite today. I know we still love each other even though we fight. I will always love you.
Madeleine

I pray that as adults the wonderful mystery of sisterhood will ALWAYS be a comfort to them.

Conundrum

An old friend I keep in touch with via F*cebook happily posted:

"I am living in the moment!"

I smiled...happy for her. Then, under her post proceeded many comments. Many of them negative and filled with warnings of repercussions from THAT kind of living. WHAT kind of living? I am confused.

Are we not to live for today?

Do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will worry about itself?

Tomorrow is not guaranteed so live today as if it were your last?



Go ahead BLOW...you know you want to...






~Note to Brian...the word could not have been more fitting. (smiles)