Monday

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Let this truth go as deep in you as possible: that life is already here, arrived. You are standing on the goal. Don't ask about the path." - Osho, was an Indian philosopher
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Note: This is an essay I wrote about my Great Aunt Dorothy on one of her birthdays. I hope you all had a special person in your life like my Aunt Dosie was to me. - mz. em

~~~~~~


Aunt Dosie (getting haircut) and Cousin Patti doing the cutting

As I remember my first weekend visit with Aunt Dosie and Uncle Bo, I wasn't too happy about it and I let everyone know with crying and yelling. Yet, Dad and Mother drove out of the driveway without me.

Aunt Dosie got me calmed down and then the fun began. Aunt Dosie always had on the shelf of the dish cabinet a white rooster with a red comb on the top and the bottom was open to hold Sugar Daddys, Slow Pokes, gums and Necco wafers. Each week, there would be something different in the rooster.

On any summer day Aunt Dorothy would pack us a picnic lunch and we would spread out a blanket under the apple tree in the front yard. It was peaceful and wonderful time to be with her.

When spring came it was planting time. Off to the side of the barn was the potato patch and behind the house was the main garden of peas, carrots, corn, green beans and I'm sure there are others that I have forgotten.

I learned from Aunt Dosie and Uncle Bo that potatoes grew in the ground. I don't know that I gave much thought about it but it was a surprise. Uncle Bo would turn the earthen hills over and potatoes appeared. Aunt Dosie would fold up her apron and fill the apron with the potatoes.

There is nothing like fresh vegetables. The second surprise was that Aunt Dosie grew a patch of asparagus. I loved asparagus and especially when she would lightly steam them and I would put a slice of butter with a dash of salt and pepper.

I learned I liked dandelion greens. Aunt Dosie gathered the greens in the fields near the house. The dandelion greens would be steamed just enough to become hot and Aunt Dosie would put them in my plate and add a sprinkle of vinegar over them. It's the only way I can eat dandelion greens or spinach.

Spring and summer would bring planting and gathering. Aunt Dosie had a very green thumb. Aunt Dosie liked color because there were patches of all colors of flowers here and there. I don't remember all that she had planted by my favorite flowers were jonquils and lady slippers.

The lady slippers which come from the orchid family (I didn't know this fact until I moved to California). Aunt Dosie and I would go to the forest to gather small bouquets of lady slippers. These flowers were delicate and pretty in the softest of colors. It was fun walking in the woods with Aunt Dosie learning the ways of the forest. At some point it became illegal to pick lady slippers and Aunt Dosie has said she finds very few when she goes walking in the woods.

Here is a Lady Slipper:



Aunt Dosie taught me about cooking. There were to be NO slamming doors or drawers when she was baking cakes. She was not going to have any fallen cakes in her kitchen. She even taught me about baking cookies and pies. There were always good smells coming from the kitchen.

The kitchen was a basic room with a cast iron sink and a water pump to have water indoors. The cooking, baking and heating was all combined and wood was burned for all three.

Saturday night baths were taken in the metal wash tub behind the stove. It was toasty back there. Water was heated on the stove and then poured into the tub. I forget how many pails it took. Plus we had to consider how many pails of cold water to be able to cool the water down before I got in.

Aunt Dosie has been a big inspiration to me and to help me get to where I am in life. Love you and happy birthday Aunt Dosie.

5/12/2009
* Dosie sounds like bossy except with a "d."

Great Aunt Dorothy died on March 10, 2010 from lung cancer. She had never smoked a day in her life.

mz. em

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Currently reading:

-- " - Possession - A Romance" - A. S. Byatt

-- "The Writer's Idea Workshop: How to make your good ideas great" - Jack Heffron
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

CURRENT MOON

about the moon

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++




"I expect to pass through life but once. If therefore, there be any kindness I can show, or any good thing I can do to any fellow being, let me do it now, and not defer or neglect it, as I shall not pass this way again." - William Penn, English entrepreneur and philosopher
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++