Indiana Roadsides

by
Jean Hughes
August 28, 1995

Goldenrods fill the roadsides with extravagant color. This is the plant that the Indians and our foremothers valued as a source of dye. I use it to dye sheep's wool a bright golden yellow.

This has been a month of fascinating skies. Sunrises were like flaming torches. Sunsets splashed the whole sky with pinks and golds. Clouds stacked onto clouds until they almost blotted out the sun. Falling stars whizzed though the heavens.

The moon, at quarter time, was dusted with a ruddy gold. As the moon grew, it turned a deeper and deeper orange, but some nights it was like a white lantern, feathering the dark-blue-mottled clouds with a delicate glow.

* * * Every time I step out my door, day or night, I see some beautiful sight I had not expected.

               Before Tomorrow's New 

          That leaf, that star, that wandering cloud,
          It's not the same as others in the crowd,
          Nor just like yesterday's.
          And I will mark its meaning, if I can --
          A little subtlety of nature's plan --
          Before tomorrow's new.

* * * This morning, as I passed the window, the female ruby-throated hummingbird was making one of her daily visits to the petunias in my window box. It is the male that has the red throat. The female is a beautiful iridescent green that flashes rainbow colors when she hovers in the sunlight. She is like a tiny helicopter, zooming from flower to flower, lingering wherever she finds the nectar satisfying. She is feeding young and has no time for anything but them. I have seen her both on and off the nest, but I have never caught her flying on or off. She must carry fairy dust that makes her invisible when she nears or flies away from her babies.

For me, a part of almost every day is spent in the kitchen, cooking. But I appreciate foods that can be prepared ahead. Even one who loves to cook enjoys a holiday now and then.

Succotash Salad

Combine in a bowl: 2 cups each of fresh-cooked or canned green beans,
lima beans, yellow wax beans and corn.
Add: 2 stalks chopped celery and 1/2 chopped green pepper.
In a skillet, stir together: 2 T. bacon drippings and 2 T. cornstarch.
Boil 1 minute, stirring constantly.
Add and stir until smooth: 1/2 cup water, 1/3 cup vinegar and 3/4 t. salt. 
Add and stir until dissolved: 1/2 cup sugar.
Pour hot dressing over vegetables. Cool. 
Cover and allow to sit in the refrigerator for at least 24 hours.

There is a map of all the small creeks in this state. It is like a line drawing of the arteries of a living body, which it is. The earth has a life just as you and I do. The life-blood of the earth is water.

A thunderstorm has just brought life to the land and to me. Not a bird has been on the wing, but now the storm clouds blow away and the sky becomes bluer and bluer as the clouds become fewer and fewer.

The sun breaks through and the air becomes alive with swifts. A peewee sings and a cuckoo calls. Kingbird babies gather on the high wire, waiting to be fed. A great-crested flycatcher darts in and out of the maple tree. Downies, cardinals and sparrows flock to the feeder. Nuthatches make noisy descents down the trees. Because of their ability to come down a tree upside-down, nuthatches see into the bark from a different angle than most birds. Consequently, they can find insects and grubs that other birds miss.

I know from experience that walking back and forth on my road is like walking on different paths. Viewpoint is important in seeing beauty as well as in hunting grubs.

* * * Yesterday, I had a serendipitous meeting with a wildling. I was in the library when I glanced down and saw a katydid dragging itself along. It stopped in front of me. Its hind legs were entangled in a long piece of wool from the dust mop. I yelped, "Oh! You poor thing!" and gathered it into my hands, untangled the wool, ran down the stairs and outside, and put the little creature on a begonia plant.

Do insects know who cares about them and will help them? I like to think so.

Jean's book of ramblings and recipes "A Country Mile of Winter" and her book of poetry "The Earth's My Home" are available for $4.95 each plus $1.30 for postage and handling. Her nature letter "Diary of a Back Yard Naturalist", published 5 times yearly, is available for $12.50 per year. Ten of Jean's favorite recipes will be included free with each book or nature letter ordered. Order from...

Country Mile Publications
616 E. Monroe St.
Delphi, Indiana 46923

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