"F" is for Finn!

   I am a bit behind the times with this post but these winter storms, along with marmalade making and cutting firewood, have been keeping me quite busy.  Supposedly another storm is to swoop down this way tomorrow.  I think that one is named Indigo so we have had a few since Old Finn dropped by the Bayou..  (Also, naming these storms makes things easier.  Just like the tropical systems we usually get, having a name tagged on a storm makes it far easier to remember.)  Anyway, it was just before Finn came whipping through the Bayou that I was frantically moving stuff from the greenhouse (used as a place to display the Christmas village) to the upstairs.  The greenhouse is just an old outbuilding that I claimed and was in the process of redoing as my "Swamp Shack" when the idea hit for the village.  Mark always enjoys setting up the town so this was an ideal place for this year. But...those tiny ceramic houses would not stand a chance if Finn decided to demolish the greenhouse/Swamp Shack.  So I toted a whole town upstairs to be stowed away in the closet.  It was while I was upstairs that I noticed the "F"!  Peering out the window, at the drippiness, a perfect letter "F" caught my eye.  Was this some sort of sign that Finn was not going to play nicely?  Was Finn just announcing his arrival by flashing his initial for all to see?  What in the world was an "F" doing in the crape myrtle tree?  I had to investigate.

  After taking a photo through the window and screen. I trotted myself downstairs, out the backdoor, through the garden plot and to the crape myrtle trees.  Yep.  There was an "F" being proudly displayed on the branches but it had no mystical reason for being there.  Apparently, the visit of Ember had knocked down some oak leaves and haphazardly placed them in the branches of the crape myrtle.  There, they dangled for me to see as I peered through the upstairs window.  Nothing magical...no omen...nothing more than oak leaves that were hung by a previous storm.  My brain just sees things a bit differently than what other folks see.  Things like this are interesting enough for me to dawdle around while awaiting a storm just to get a photograph.  

Lost in the mist of time

  It seems that speech has changed a good bit in the past few generations.  Some old letters of my mom's were shown to my two youngest kids (who are adults now) and all I heard were fits of giggles. A few of these letters were ones that were exchanged between Mom, (Ruth) who was away at college, and her little sister, Helen.  Helen was still in high school at the time.  Ruth and Helen had their own "language" that started as verbal conversations during their childhood but then spilled over through college years.  Why, as matter of fact, even some of the letters and conversations in their later years contained snippets of phrases that made no sense to the rest of the world. They were the only ones who knew the meaning of their made-up words. One of the words that caused hysterics was "gaddlelack".  We never really figured out what the word meant but, invariably, it was in almost every letter that was exchanged between the two young girls.  Even in one of the final letters ever to be sent, the word was scribbled on the sidelines and then stated to be a household word with Helen's grandkids.  Another thing that struck my kids as being cute was the nicknames of "Bo" (Ruth) and "Mo" (Helen).

  Another comical bit written by Helen was the explanation of the stars and moon.  She stated that her class was studying the stars and Mars but that her teacher had it all wrong.  She went on to explain that stars were actually the Moon's eggs and space was a large nest.  When an egg became rotten, the moon would kick it out of the nest thus creating falling stars!  Wow!  I have never heard space explained as such and figured that I would have liked studying astronomy a lot more if that was what was taught!

  One of the last letters that my mom received from Helen was heartbreaking.  She managed to put on a cheery act but told of how she was hurting and how easy it would be to just give up.  This letter, like the others, did contain a bit of their "language" but was a far cry from the comical creations of their younger days.  I sat reading through this bunch of papers and realized that I was watching their entire lives play out before my eyes.  From happy youngsters, to young women, to old ladies..these two kept their close relationship strong through written letters.  Then I thought of emails, texts, phone messages, digital photographs and realized what the world is missing.  My grandchildren will not have the insight of my life like my kids got today of their grandmother and their great-aunt.  Things will be lost as we are becoming more a people of the moment with nothing lasting to pass on to our kids and grandkids.  No longer will it be a rite of passage to sit looking at paper photographs.  No longer will letters be read and reread.  No longer will secret "languages" be shared from generation to generation.  A lot will be lost due to this thing called progress.  A lot will be lost forever.

Kammie's Garden Writing

Some days my vivid imagination truly runs amok. It completely overtakes my day causing everything to be entwined into one long tale of curiosity. Today was one of those bizarre days where each thing that I encountered presented itself to be something other than its original form. This all occurred simply because of a conversation that I had with a sweet niece. She told me how she photographs "letters". These are just shapes that remind her of certain letters, whether it be something in nature or something architectural. Well, that did it! My brain was working overtime! This morning in the garden, I found so many letters that I probably could have written a book! I started snapping pictures one after another. Yes! There is an "S"! Oh, look! There is a "J"! Over there! A "B"! How fun was this! Letters in the garden! Sure, I had to practically stand on my head to see some or maybe squint my eyes, but the most mundane things started literally jumping out at me! Back about a month ago the letter "e" fell off the arbor and landed right in front of me (blog post of Feb.9th). I did not think too much of it at the time but now I realize that was just one of many letters of the alphabet that can be found hidden in plain sight, as the old saying goes!

The first letter I found this morning was an "S". This was not hard as most scroll work has the letter "S" in the design. These letters were found on brackets and shepherds' hooks used for hanging plants and bird feeders. Not a big surprise there but still most interesting. Then as I walked through the arbor, a wisteria vine dangled precariously over the side. The vine was twirled into a beautiful "S" shape! A natural "S"!

I continued the stroll around the garden..the wings of a metal dragonfly made an "X"! A fat "X" but still a perfect letter! I turned around and there on the ground were two metal arches. I had pulled them out of the rose garden the day before as I was weeding. A "B"! Oh, come on..use your imagination..it is a "B"..I can see it!

On the bottom of a bird feeder stand..a "B" or a "K" or maybe even an "R" depending on how you view it..or if you were making a word..whichever letter you needed! Interchangeable letters! Now we are talking! The old plow handle became a "A"..if viewed sideways..squint hard..it is there, I promise! The "J" is one that I had to almost turn upside-down to see. A small hook used for hanging solar garden lights stood at the edge of the daylily bed! My "J"! Another "J" was found inside in the form of a fish hook!

"O's" were everywhere! How could we ever survive without "O's"! Wheels, blades, table tops all were in this shape! I grew tired of photographing "O's"! By this time, the gnats decided that I would make a dandy lunch and started munching on my blood! Time to head inside!

Once inside, I found "M" formed by the handles of cast iron skillets. Two crosses were in "T" shapes and "I' was a pendant and wooden beads (turned topsy-turvey). And "N"was made by the legs of some shelf-sitting wooden birds. All letters..yet not letters! There were many more..formed with sticks, in clouds, and shadows..everywhere I looked there were letters. I think this might be a habit-forming hobby and I owe it all to my niece!..errr..Thanks, Kammie..I think. I could definitely write an entire book using these letters as long as only used words with a very few letters! Or perhaps I should go on another expedition scouting out the letters of the alphabet that are hiding in plain sight..just waiting to be photographed for some use. Sweet Niece actually uses her photographs in some fantastic art projects..perhaps I can convince her to share her secrets and teach this craft to me! Then at least I would have an excuse for spending so much time searching for things that only (Kammie and) I can see. Oh, looky there..a "Z"! Wait there is a.........