The Walker Story - for Rose.

A friend from blogs past stopped by and visited and asked for this story, and to be quite honest, I had never even thought about posting it until the beach story a few days back.  So, here it is.

When my boys were 2 and 3 (Walker is the oldest) we lived on Hibiscus Avenue in Winter Park.  It's a quaint, brick street - the houses were a hodge podge of old and new, and it's lined with oaks and a few maples. Our house sat a few houses from the end of the street, and our backyard backed up to the cemetery.  We had a huge (i'm talking HUGE) front porch with a swing that the boys and I would gather on daily. I really really loved the house.  But this isn't about the house - sorry - forgot a bit about that darn swing!


Anyway, my ex's grandfather was in that cemetery - and you could see his grave from our backyard.  Now, for some of you, that may be creepy.  In the south (maybe in the north too - not sure?)  - some of us which have family plots on our homesteads, it's not creepy - it's comforting.  And we bought this house pretty much for the reason that we could walk out of our house and go tend that grave - my ex is very close to his family and his grandfather died a few months before our wedding.  So, to us, it was kind of kismet.

One day, they boys were in the playroom, and Marty was sitting in his desk in his office off of the playroom, and Walker turned to the corner of the office and said "Hi." - to the corner/wall.  We turned and only saw well, the corner and the wall.  He kept staring at the corner and then said "ok, bye." and toddled back into the playroom.  


Marty looked at me, and then asked Walker who he was talking to.  Walker pointed to the corner and said "that man".  Marty said there's no one there.  Walker looked at his daddy, and said "yea, that man. He's waiting on great grandma."


Great grandma was older and in failing health at the time, and later that week fell very ill and unfortunately did pass away within a very short time - i can't remember, maybe a few weeks, a month?


I carry that story with me because i know in my heart that Marty's grand-daddy, waiting on his wife. No doubt in my mind.  Kindred spirits, truly.

Dirt Between My Toes

 sweet basil in my garden, March 31st, 2010

I love the morning when the sun is shining down so softly on the earth.  One of my favorite things to do is make a cup of coffee (super strong, but loaded with splenda and cream) and wander outside and walk through my yard.  I got that from my dad.

Every Saturday morning, he would get his coffee and we would go out to the yard and softly pad through the dewy grass to see what was coming up in the garden - and i think he loved it, also, because he could hear me gush about all of the Easter lillies he worked so hard on. I loved those flowers so much - but more than that, I just loved  hanging out with my Dad.

I think my oldest son has gotten that bug because he volunteers to leave the TV and his Rice Krispies and walk with me.  We had such a great time trying to capture those cardinals last Saturday. My little nature lover.  I hope he holds these walks with me in his heart as he gets older like I do the ones with my dad.

corn, 2 weeks from planting, March 30, 2010

Our garden is twice as big this year.  At the middle of March we planted Romaine lettuce, red and yellow onions, corn, green and orange peppers, jalapeno peppers, tomatoes (gotta have tomatoes!), watermelon, yellow squash, zuchinni, eggplant and cucumbers.  In between the tomato cages and rows of corn we planted sunflowers and marigolds.  The only thing we did from seed was the corn but it only took 2 weeks to go from seed to what you see above.  How can one put one bite of food in their mouth and not think God exists? I mean really? To watch a garden grow just makes me amazed at God's bounty and promise to provide.  My life has definitely not turned out the way thought it would, but God has shown me that He is always in control, he just asks for faith. His love does not end.

While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease. - Genesis 8:22