I was in school on Monday, another beautiful day that I longed to be outdoors and couldn’t be until the afternoon. When I got home I did the chores. Then the mail came and there was another package of plants for me – six bayberry bushes and a gingko tree. It was a small package and the plants were tiny, just tender little twigs. I planted them right away and watered them in. The afternoon was lovely. Miriam, Hannah, and I took a walk around the yard before dinner. It was a fragrant walk. As we strolled, we sampled the odors of lily-of-the-valley, lilacs, apple blossoms, irises, and narcissus. After dinner, we took a longer walk up to the woods.
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| Our evening walk on Monday: up the Rapley Road. |
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| Our evening walk on Monday: at the top of the hill near the woods. |
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| Our evening walk on Monday: white wood violets. |
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| Our evening walk on Monday: the path through the woods. |
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| Our evening walk on Monday: red trilliums. |
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| Our evening walk on Monday: walking back at sundown. |
On Tuesday, although it was a beautiful morning, I saw that rain was coming later in the day and was predicted to stay pretty much for the next ten days. That forecast sent me into garden high gear. Before the dew was dry I was out with the weed whacker trimming. By the time I finished that, the dew was dry and I jumped on the mower and mowed everything I could as fast as I could. By then it was noon. I stopped for lunch and then went out to weed. The strawberry beds were full of dandelions and Creeping Charlie. I spent the next two hours on my hands and knees pulling weeds. The rain arrived after dinner.
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| Tuesday morning. |
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| Tuesday morning. |
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| Weeding a strawberry bed. |
Way back when I was in my junior year of high school, I came down with strep throat and I missed almost two weeks of school. It was, in an odd way, an important event in my life. I was very sick and I think, for the first time in my life, I found myself contemplating my mortality, an uncommon thing for teenage boys who tend to think of themselves as indestructible. Yes, there was that, but the most momentous event of my convalescence was a movie marathon on one of the Chicago television stations. Every morning during the week they broadcast an old movie and during those two weeks, they were all Bette Davis movies. I watched them all and I fell in love with her. She wasn’t a ravishing beauty like so many movie and TV stars, but there was something stunning about her. If I remember right, during those two weeks I saw her in Dark Victory, Jezebel, The Little Foxes, The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex, Now Voyager, The Corn is Green, Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte, A Stolen Life, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?, and All About Eve. I was completely smitten. I still consider her the greatest actress of all time. Over the years I’ve managed to see almost every film she starred in. Some I’ve watched many times and will watch many times more. The reason I bring this up is the rain. Last week, trying to wile away those rainy hours when I couldn’t be outdoors, when I’d grown weary of reading (yes, that happens sometimes), I turned to those old and excellent movies.
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| Bette Davis. |
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| Some of my favorite Bette Davis movies. |
I’ve watched a lot of movies over the years. From early childhood Saturday matinees at the West Shore Theater, to weekend movies with friends through my teenage years, to frequenting the classic movie houses of Los Angeles, I’ve gone to a lot of movies. And then there are all the movies I’ve seen on television. I can’t even begin to guess how many movies I’ve seen. And I keep adding more. Because we get into our local theater for free (a perk of my wife’s employment), we go fairly often. And having spent so much time watching movies, I think I’m a pretty good judge of quality. And of all the movies I’ve seen, I think the ones I love the most were made during the Golden Age of Cinema – 1930 to 1960. I can watch most of them over and over again and never tire of seeing them. I’m not usually impressed by most new movies. Most of them are too long, too predictable, too formulaic, usually too vulgar. Now and then a good one comes along, but they seem to be getting rarer. I think most modern actors don’t act well. Those Golden Age Stars, stars like Bette Davis, have me spoiled. No actress today can match her performances as Margo Channing in All About Eve, or Julie Marsden in Jezebel, or the terrifying Jane Hudson in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? On Tuesday, my rainy day movie was All About Eve (1950) the film that won her her second Academy Award.
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| Apple blossom orchard. |
Wednesday was rainy. I did my weekly errand run in the morning, up to Wellsville and back. I bought chicken feed. On the way back I couldn’t resist stopping by a nursery – just to look, I told myself. Well, I should know myself better than that. I came back home with a clematis paniculata and some snapdragons. I could have come back with more, but the nursery only took cash and I only had a little on me. Probably a good thing. My rainy afternoon movie that day was Of Human Bondage (1934), the movie that launched Bette Davis to stardom for her portrayal of the vulgar, manipulative, and ultimately pathetic Mildred Rogers.
Thursday we were supposed to have a brief reprieve from the rain, but it came later in the day. So I spent a wet and dreary morning watching The Corn is Green, one of my favorite Bette Davis movies. By the time the movie ended, the rain had stopped. Things outdoors were rather damp, but I didn’t let that stop me. Weeds come up easier when the ground is wet. I only had an hour to work before the rain returned. The rain is wonderful for the garden. Everything is flourishing because of it. I wish it only fell during the night. Finally right before chore time, the sun broke through the clouds and we had a lovely evening.
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The orchard in evening sunshine after a rainy day.
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Late Thursday night the Thayns arrived to spend the weekend with us. There was a lot going on on Friday. It was my last day of school – forever. After twenty years of being a substitute teacher, I thought something would happen on my last day, a hearty farewell, something, but I just turned in my key and left. I am officially retired now. So no more scheduled days at school. No more waiting in the mornings for the phone to ring for a last minute call. It hasn’t really sunk in yet.
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| The bluebells are in bloom now. |
Friday evening the choir that Miriam and Hannah belong to had their spring concert at the Baptist church in Galeton. We all went to that. It was very nice. Their second performance is this afternoon at the Episcopal church in Coudersport.
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| At the concert. |
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| Miriam and Hannah after the concert. |
Saturday morning we put flags on the veterans’ graves at the Raymond Cemetery. We do that every year. After that, it was a work day. Tabor helped me secure the cover on the high tunnel. I think it will hold fast this time. We’ll see when the next wind storm comes. While we were doing that, the girls picked rocks for me. We have an endless supply of rocks in our gardens. The next job was a messy one.
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| Putting out flags. |
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| Putting out flags. |
The Thayns bought an incubator and have hatched out chicks. They have two batches, one is two weeks old and the other just two days old. They couldn’t leave them at home unattended, so they brought them here. While they were here, Rachel and Tabor ran an errand into town to the Tractor Supply and came back with four more chicks. We are going to babysit the two week old chicks while the Thayns go on a trip out west. In order to accommodate them, we finally cleaned out the middle section of the coop. That was our next job, and it was not fun. There was a lot of manure. We dug it out and filled buckets, which we dumped into the front bucket of Kurt’s tractor and then he hauled it up and added to the compost pile up by the big garden. After it has aged for a season, we will spread it in the garden. It will become great fertilizer, but on the fresh side, it’s pretty repulsive. After the pen was shoveled out and we put down clean straw, Tabor rigged a feeding chute into the pen and we put in a feeder and waterer. Then we introduced the chicks to their new temporary home. They loved it.
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| Cleaning the chicken coop. |
Friday was Stacey’s birthday, but with everything else happening that day, we moved the celebration to Saturday. The Shillig’s hosted a birthday Mexican dinner – gringo enchiladas, guacamole, rice, and beans. Miriam made horchata and a chocoflan. Rachel made her special limeade. It was all so delicious. After our feast with cake and birthday presents, we set up the Shillig’s trampoline. Now it feels like we’re ready for summer.
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| The birthday feast. |
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| Happy birthday Stacey. |
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| The neighbor's sheep came to watch us put up the trampoline. |
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| The trampoline is up! |
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| Stacey wearing her new outfit to church. |
It is gloomy today, overcast and it looks like it might rain at any moment. Church was good. I love it when the Thayns are here. They increase our attendance considerably and we actually have children to have Primary. We’re home now. We’ve eaten lunch – leftovers from yesterday’s Mexican feast. Miriam and Hannah have gone off to their final choir performance. The rest of us are just relaxing. The Thayns will leave for home later this afternoon. Then things will be quiet and forlorn. We are leaving this week to go to North Carolina to my niece Laura’s wedding. It will be nice to see family there. Kurt and Julie are taking care of things while we’re gone. I’ll have lots to report when we get back next Sunday night. Good Sabbath.
