Spring peonies in my garden.
I drive through
this sleepy little town at night, and I am grateful I found a place to call
home many years ago. What was I looking for? I remember talking to my friend,
Ellen, what should I do, where should I go? She said to me, “You love your
town, you love your community…move to town.” It took two years to find the
perfect little house. I didn’t want to just buy a house…or an investment. No,
that wasn’t for me. I wanted home with twenty-one pairs of Dorothy red shoes. I
wanted home where I could rip off the old siding and look in amazement at the
over 100-year-old siding still intact, still ready to be shown off with the
right color. The right color, of course, was purple.
The house was
good and solid and as I have said so many times, Randy and Shannon saved this
house for me. I bought it on an early summer night over a grilled-out steak
dinner at their home. I was so surprised at how quiet it was in the
neighborhood. My sister said that I should never buy a house without seeing it
at night…flushing the toilet, drinking the water. I did those things.
The next morning,
I sat across the table from Randy and Shannon deciding how to buy the house. It
was just the three of us. Randy brought out notecards. I wrote what I would
pay, they wrote what they would accept, and we traded. I smiled. Exactly the
same amount. Have I ever regretted this move? Not for a day, not for a moment.
This old house
of mine is all the grandchildren have ever known. I think they all call it a
magical faerie house, well, it is! This old house has celebrated Women’s
potlucks, family gatherings, and neighborhood parties. It has also experienced
sadness. Haven’t we all? Luckily, the
good times and stories layer over. Maybe I think of this house as more of a
gathering place for friends and family. That is my hope.
Celebrations
consist of many activities, but three of my very favorite events happen this
week! First of all, in my neighborhood, we will be celebrating the beginning of
summer at a neighborhood gathering at my house. Our quadrant has been
completely enriched by the perseverance of Nate and Aimee Simons in teaching us
that neighbors become friends and friends become family. Nate mentions this at
every party. This Friday night we welcome the rites of summer with a Rock ‘n
Roll into Summer party. Not only will we celebrate with food and laughter, but
my good friends Pete and Ken will be here to play music and sing for us. Who
doesn’t love music at their parties? We always bring food for the “blessing
boxes” at the Episcopal Church. We also take care to check on each other,
congratulate each other for the good food we have prepared, and as Nate says,
bring us closer to family. We are welcoming two new families this Friday night.
They have no idea how lucky they are to live here! I have chatted about this
before. If you want some advice on how to build community, come see us, and we
will be happy to share.
The Solstice
celebration is here this weekend too. The first day of summer is on Sunday as
is Father’s Day. My twins are already excited to celebrate with party hats and
my year long collection of rose petals to strew across the yard welcoming the
faeries into the garden. (It does work, by the way!) My boys all did this when
they were young, and now all of the grandchildren have taken part in this fun ritual
to welcome in Summer. The Solstice is such a fun celebration in many other
countries even though it mostly passes us by. Let’s remember it…rose petals?
Daisy petals?
Before I let
you go, I want to give a shout out to Cahoots Community Center for hosting
Angola’s Got Talent on Saturday night at the T. Furth Center at 6:00. The
line-up is stellar. I go every year and I am always so amazed at the talent.
Come support all the young (and young at heart) folks who will be singing,
dancing, and playing music.
An ending
thought: I own a picture by Brian Andreas which says, “The real reason we are
here is to love each other and to eat each other’s cooking and say it was
good.”
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