Can peonies be enjoyed for generations? Well yes and no! I know I posted this picture before so please bear with me on this post. The only generation missing from this photo is my grandma who LOVED any kind of flowers. So much so that she passed on her love of flowers to my dad who in turn passed on to me and now that our kids are young adults, perhaps they too will carry-on their generation of loving flowers…especially peonies! So my answer for ‘yes’ is the fact that we need to pass the joy of growing flowers and harvesting their blooms on to the next generation. My grandma and dad would attest to the joy of harvesting tulip blooms when at age 5, I cut off all her tulip blooms. That was two generations who inspired me to LOVE flowers! Thus my answer for ‘no’ above may be attributed to current generations passing on their love to the next generation. Perhaps next growing season we all could do a better job at ‘hands on’ designing a flower, vegetable and fruit gardens to the next generation! Yes its fun to see instant gratification of lovely pictures on various sites, but why not take pictures of children enjoying the fruits of their labor? Just a thought…
Speaking of fruits, (not me even though I’ve been known to be a tad intense/OCD/nuts), my job as a 10-year old was to weed and pick strawberries. Little did I know that a few decades later I would do that in our strawberry patch. And yes our kids have been known to do the same only to say ‘these are the best strawberries i ever tasted’. Interesting…not if I’m passing that love on to the next generation. Things did get a little out of hand when I asked Becky if I could plant some raspberries? She wholeheartedly agreed! Things got a little weird when I pulled a tree planter home from our local soil and water office. Of course she asked what was the tree planter for and mentioned that it might be to plant raspberries! Of course the normal question was ‘well how many are you planting?’ Rather sheepishly i replied, 1,500! So now when I ask her if I can plant more fruit crops, she doesn’t ask ‘how many’!
I know my love of birds, especially Purple Martins came from my dad. Growing up my dad would feed all the song birds, including sparrows. Who needs funny videos when the sight of my mom chasing the sparrows away from the feeders with a broom in hand in the middle of winter will always be hardwired in my memories. Dad would have to sneak food into the feeders when mom wasn’t home as his tender heart loved all living things. On major Holiday’s, he would put a dish of food from the table together and give to our cat and dog. And yes that generational love is the same today with all our animals and songbirds. This past Thanksgiving I put together a plate of table fare to give to our cats and Redd. And yes the bird feeder is always full except that no one is chasing the sparrows away from the feeder with a broom!:)
Not to leave out our fertilizer production team, the generation love of cows was also passed on to me. Our team is now up to 25 members and doing well. I was going through some of my dads cherished newspaper articles and found one dated 1959. There was a picture of my mom and dad with me on his lap. Little did I know that he was the dairy farmer of the year in Wisconsin.
Getting back to vegetables, my dad is seen teaching our kids the art of planting a vegetable garden. I always remember at that age when my dad would bring in vegetables, especially the cucumbers, from his garden. Lather on the mayonnaise bite by bite and still today that is my favorite garden vegetable…although the mayo is not lathered on as much due to the availability of that in our current eating plan.
The other generational love of outdoor activities was fishing! We grew up in Southwestern Wisconsin which had an abundance of trout streams. Before dad went to work in the morning, he loved to head out to his favorite trout holes to see if he could catch some wily trout. His love of fishing was passed on to him from his parents. I had the joy of fishing with my grandparents out of an old 16′ aluminum boat. Since my grandpa was blind, my grandma and I would do the rowing while he fished. In dad’s last visit to Burntside Lake in Ely, we had the chance to go out in our boat, not rowing of course nowadays.
Since dad wasn’t very mobile, his joy at our family cabin was to sit on the dock, drink a cup of coffee and look out at the postcard view. We’d ask him if he was ok and his answer was ‘great, great, great’!
This picture will always be remembered as he is explaining (and showing off) his beloved peony garden after my mom passed away. He kept careful records on when each peony bloomed and how blooms each plant had. The highlight of the year for him was the peony bloom season. Since he lived up in Superior, WI, his bloom time came later than what we have down here so we were able to see and enjoy his peony garden after our busy season.
After my mom passed away 2 1/2 years ago, dad had an event so for the last 4+ years, many miles were put driving 250 miles each way to attend to my mom and dad. On this particular visit, the infamous Redd came with me. Though dads memory was failing, I could tell his love of animals perked up. Redd didn’t care that Grandpa called him ‘Fido’ from his dog as a young boy. And yes Redd was on his best behavior while visiting. Did Redd know something and wanted Grandpa to know that it was ok to snuggle with him? Dad had been in the nursing home for 1 year and nine months. I haven’t posted for awhile as I’ve had three end of life calls with my dad in the last couple of months.
I am humbled and honored to have my dad with us for 92 years and 30-days. As I’m writing this last paragraph the tears are streaming on to the keyboard as he is no longer with us. He will be greatly missed but knowing he has been a man of God and a prayer warrior for all, gives me comfort that I will see him again. One of the joys in this whole end of life process was to find my Grandpa’s obituary. Unbeknownst to my sister and I, our dad’s obituary read almost the same as our Grandpa’s! Is that cool or what? Generational love? I agree wholeheartedly! Please hug your family members today and tell them you love them! I know my dad loved me and my family and I know for sure that the patriarch of peonies, loved PEONIES!
