They come, popping out, and too soon they are gone.
Before the rain arrived today, I snapped two photos of my first poppies.
I can’t look at a poppy without thinking of the field of poppies in the Wizzard of Oz.
Good thing the Good Witch came by to wake Dorothy, Toto, and the lion.
Now I’m sitting and listening to the rain falling. It’s a beautiful sound when there are no storms attached.
I hope I got all my windows closed. I know I have one opened on the porch, but that doesn’t seem to be a problem right now. In fact, it is letting in cool air.
Rain is also a nice sound when it is nap time, but I hope it doesn’t last that long. We’ll see.
My dad told stories about his life all the time. I thought I’d share one of his earliest memories today.
Mom
My mom was very easy going with me. I don’t think I ever
got a smacking.
I
remember riding my tricycle on the sidewalk alongside of our house. My mom was
washing clothes in the basement with the window open.
I would stop and talk to her. On one stop she was gone, but
on the windowsill I found three pennies. Well, into my pocket they went and I
was on my way to Louie Sults’s Grocery store. – In those days three cents
bought a lot of candy: soldiers, six for a penny, Mary Janes, five for a penny.
Well, me and my bike and a bag filled with candy headed home. I turned into our yard. My mom was standing by the basement window. She called me over and whispered. “Do you know what happened? While I was gone somebody came over to the window and stole my three cents. Now, I know you wouldn’t do that because you’re such a good boy. Do you have any idea who could have taken my money?”
With a red face, I held out my bag of candy. “It was me,
Mom. I took the money and bought this candy.”
My mom took the bag and said, “I guess the candy is mine,
Sonny.”
With my head bowed, I said, “Yes, Mom, it’s yours.” – To
this day, I can remember how ashamed I was.
With head down, I rode my bike down our walk, back and
forth, too ashamed to look at my mom.
As I rode past the window, Mom called out to me. She held
in her hand two pieces of candy. “Here, Sonny, this is for being honest. You
could have said that you didn’t take the money.”
I
loved the candy, but I loved my mom much more. My face brightened into a big
smile. Life was great again.
As the day wore on I think I finished the bag of candy one
piece at a time.
Our kitchen was in our basement and soon it was time to
eat. Mom was a great cook. We were very poor, but I didn’t know it. I thought I
was the richest kid in the world and really I was because of Mom.
A favorite pastime of Chuck Paska was fishing.
This photo was taken closer to the end of Dad’s life, but he still was telling stories.
Some of Dad’s stories were adapted to fit my novel, Chicken Charlie’s Year.
Thanks, Dad for all the love you gave me and Karen and all the stories you shared with us.
Spring continues no matter what we humans are doing or not doing.
Our pear trees are filled with blossoms from top to bottom. It looks like my pear harvest will be a great one. So remember me in the fall if you want some.
pear tree
The apple trees are far from their full bloom.
The pear trees are in the background and the branch to the left is from one of the old apple trees. Its blossoms are just starting to open.
If all goes well, fall will mean a lot of fruit. And as I said I’m willing to share as long as you’re willing to pick.
The seasons will continue. Let’s hope that there are many, many people here to appreciate the changes and the bounty nature provides us.
My dad was in the Battle of the Buldge. I honor him today with a short account about his name.
Charles J Paska
When Dad was in the army they misprinted his name. He went from Charles Poska to Charles Paska. He soon found out that when the army says your name is Paska, that’s what it was.
I asked Dad why he didn’t get it changed back. He told me he’d have to go to court and pay a fee to fix what the army did. Dad had enough government interference in his life after his years in the army and said it was okay with him to have Paska as his name. Because of this my sister and my maiden names are Paska, too.
I tried looking up Dad’s service records, but I got a letter telling me a fire destroyed a great many records years ago. That’s such a pity, as many soldiers had their duty erased in those flames.
I was getting ready to open the door to the chicken coop when I heard the chugging sound of an old tractor.
I turned toward the road and saw one, then two tractors, one pulling a wagon with people waving a flag. The best part there was more coming down our country road.
I ran to the house to get my camera.
You can see the tractors just below the tree limb as I raced for my camera–my photo came from critter cam I had on the porch.
I raced back to the road with my camera and started snapping pictures.
the caboose
I might have recognized a driver or two, but I’m not sure, I was too surprised and excited by the passing parade.
I don’t know where they came from or where they were going, but I sure was happy they passed by Sunnybook Farm.
