The first week of June was as perfect as June can be. We had a week of wonderful weather. It was warm with a touch of humidity. When it rained, it was a warm rain. The air was heavy with the perfume of lilac, azalea, and wild phlox. On June 1st, right on cue, we saw our first firefly. Perfect.
 |
| Evening on June 1st. |
I spent every available moment working in the gardens and the orchard. I started cutting the grass in the orchard for the first time using my scythe. It’s hard work, but great exercise. The fruit trees have reached the stage in their fruit development called “petal fall.” In just a day or two all the petals came swirling down. It was like snow only a thousand times better. Every tree that bloomed has tiny apples and pears on it. It looks good.
 |
| The woodland garden. |
The gardens are June perfect too. The irises, columbines, and lupines are in bloom. And in the woodland garden, the pink woodland azalea is flowering and fragrant. The poppy buds are about to burst and soon there will be peonies.
 |
| Irises. |
 |
| Lupine. |
 |
| Woodland azaleas. |
 |
| Columbines. |
I planted kiwi fruit vines this spring and on Wednesday Josiah helped me build an arbor for the vines to grow on. The vines aren’t big enough to reach the top of the arbor yet and it will be a few years before they bear fruit, but I’m ready for it.
Monday was Memorial Day. I went to the parade in Ulysses and watched Josiah march with the high school band (which was tiny this year). After the parade, I drove to several of the cemeteries where my ancestors are buried. I went to Mills, White’s Corners, North Bingham, and Genesee. It was a lovely day and the drive along the back roads through such beautiful country reminded me again how happy I am that I live in this place.
 |
| The veterans at the front of the parade. |
 |
| The tiny marching band. |
 |
| The road to White's Corners. |
 |
| White's Corners Cemetery. |
 |
| The road to North Bingham. |
 |
| Howe graves at North Bingham. |
On Wednesday evening we played a little trick on Josiah. It was getting late, almost 10:00 p.m. and Stacey said she wanted us all to go for a ride in the car. Josiah said he didn’t want to go, but Stacey insisted. He was a bit grumpy about it. As we approached Genesee, Stacey said we were stopping to get gas. We filled the tank then started north toward Wellsville. Josiah wanted to know where we were going. Stacey said she wanted to return some books to the library – an odd thing to do so late at night. Josiah said later that he knew something was up then because there were no library books in the car. When we got to Wellsville, Josiah became more insistent to know where we were going, so we had to tell him. We were driving to the Buffalo airport to pick up Daniel who was coming home to attend graduation and visit for a while. So we drove on into the night. Daniel's flight came in at midnight. We had a happy reunion and a long drive back. We got home at 2:30 a.m. and went straight to bed.
It’s fun having Daniel here. He has helped me with some of my garden projects. He tried out my scythe and mowed part of the orchard. He helped me plant my tomatoes, squash, and beans. And, as always, we all had fun playing games and just sitting around and talking. Saturday night Daniel built us our first “social” fire of the year. We’ve burned brush and branches already this spring, but this time it was just a comfortable campfire and we all sat around it and talked into the night while listening to the frogs. I love it when my children come home.
 |
| Josiah and Daniel scything in the orchard. |
Well, we’re finished with high school now. Josiah graduated on Friday. The ceremony was long. There were lots of awards and scholarships. Several of them went to Josiah. Josiah also had several parts in the program. He is ranked fifth in his class so he got to give the welcome speech. Later in the program he sang a solo, “You’ve Got A Friend,” by Carole King. He did a great job. I managed to keep myself together through the whole evening, but at times it was hard. Graduations are happy occasions, but for me they are always tinged with sadness. As I looked at Josiah and his friends, all kids I know well, I couldn’t help but think how this was the last time they would all be together in the same place at the same time. They will all go their ways along different paths now. Some of them Josiah will never see again.
 |
| The happy graduate. |
 |
| The graduation party. |
On Saturday afternoon we were invited to a big graduation party hosted by the families of three graduates, all of them close friends of Josiah. It was held at Dale Erway’s place just down the road. It was a big event. There were hundreds of people there, neighbors, family, and friends, and lots of food. It was nice.
Today was our Stake Conference. We were able to watch it at church via the internet and didn’t have to drive all the way to Palmyra, which was nice. We had visiting General Authorities because they changed our Stake Presidency. We’re home now. It’s raining. Lunch is almost ready. And I’m ready for a nap.
I have lots of plans for the week ahead. With school out and two strapping young men at my disposal, I plan to get some big projects done – clean out the chicken coop, maybe paint the back porch, build a stone walkway from the front porch to the driveway. I don’t know what Daniel and Josiah think they’ll be doing this week, but I know. And we’ll have fun doing it all. We’ll maybe not shoveling chicken manure. But the rest will be fun just because we’re together.
