Indiana Roadsides

by
Jean Hughes
December 11, 1995

Business is booming at my window feeder. Sunflower seeds are selling at 10 for a song. As fast as I put them out, the seeds are cracked or pounded open and gulped down. I never tire of the show of feathers and the music of the birds.

Every day I have the delicious joy of coming home to a wood fire. Anyone who has heated with wood knows that it has a unique and wonderful ability to warm you to the bone, and it fills the house with a lovely aroma.

* * * I'm sure it is the same screech owl in my barn this year that spent last winter with me. I knew it when I saw him peeking out of the old furnace pipe high up on the rafters that was his former home.

We have a conversation every day. So far, I'll admit it is one sided. I talk. Owlie listens. But we are halfway to communicating. I just assume the owl hasn't thought of anything worth sharing yet.

In an old wooden box purchased at a country auction not far from here, I found a letter written to a little girl in 1922. It was from her aunt who had also lived in our hills. The letter contained the ingredients for this spice cake, but, as was common, gave few instructions. I have given the cake a name which each of us, in our time, has called these beautiful hills . . . Down Home.

Down Home Spice Cake

Cream together: 2 cups sugar and 1 cup butter.
Beat in: 4 egg yolks.
Sift together: 2 cups flour, 1 t. baking powder, 1/4 t. baking soda, 
1/2 t. nutmeg and 1 t. each of allspice, black pepper, cloves and cinnamon.
Add alternately with: 1 cup buttermilk, beating well after each addition.
Beat until stiff: 4 egg whites. Fold into batter.
Pour batter into: three 8 inch greased and floured cake pans.
Bake at 350o for 20 to 25 minutes. Cool 10 minutes.
Turn out on racks and cool completely.

Fruit Filling
Mix together in a heavy, 2 quart saucepan: 1 cup sugar, 1/2 cup orange juice, 1/2 cup water, 2 T. flour, 1/8 t. salt, 8 oz. ground dates, 8 oz. ground dried mixed fruits and 1/2 cup chopped black walnuts.
Simmer 5 minutes, stirring vigorously.
Remove from heat and add: 2 T. butter and 1 t. vanilla.
When cake and filling are cool, put filling between layers. Place under a cake cover and allow to sit overnight. Frost with caramel icing from recipe in column dated 12-04-95.

Today, the children and I walk to Stonebreaker Creek. We wander through the woods and from a hilltop see the water winding through the valley below. We climb down and play along the creek bank.

The creek is running swiftly. At every rocky waterfall, fountains of sliver flash into the air. The water sings ancient, bubbling songs.

We stay for a couple of hours. On our trip home, we find a gathering of cedar waxwings. Trees are filled with the fluttering of wings, the bright flips of yellow tails and the chattering of bird voices. Waxwings are experts at small talk.

The rocks we have picked up at the creek get heavier and heavier as we near home. But everybody must carry his own load and no one may complain.

* * * Every evening this past week, I have been walking to the field at the far end of my land so I could turn around and walk home into the sunset. Each sunset has been a manifestation of glorious splendor, as though nature were trying to distill all its beauty into one momentous performance.

Through all of written history, and from tales handed from generation to generation before men learned to write, there is one timeless narrative. It is the continual appreciation of the beauty of nature.

Cultures change, but nature is a common ground for understanding between people of the past, present and future. It is the longing to share the heartfelt joy and beauty of nature that makes men from all times kin.

From the earth's first throbbings, it has sung the Creator's praise. Endlessly, each animal, plant and body of water, and each day and night, shares its beauty. I join in with my words, and with the gentle loving of my days.

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. Ten of Jean's favorite recipes will be included free with each book ordered. Order from...

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

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