by
Jean Hughes
July 8, 1996
It is early and I am out in my garden. As I work down a row, two chipping sparrows work along with me, three rows away. I sit and scoot when I weed. Then I do not frighten the birds.

I am not a fast worker. It takes time to cover all the earthworms that I disturb. When I get tired, I lie down between the rows and watch the clouds.

A toad hops ahead of me. An indigo bunting sings to me from a nearby tree. When I come to the potato row, the blossoms jump out at me. I have never written of the beauty of vegetable blossoms, but tomatoes, squash, potatoes, beans and peas have blossoms as beautiful as those of the wild and cultivated flowers.

I use the words blossom and bloom interchangeably, but there is a difference. The blossom can be drawn and photographed. The bloom must be experienced in person. The bloom is a wild joy, the visible-invisible that I tie my heart strings to every day. It is the never-ending life-beat, the essence of living. Everyone and everything blooms under the right circumstances.

* * *
This evening, along Sugar Creek, flycatchers dart above the water. Peewees, also flycatchers, sing between courses. An iridescent green bug crawls over my shoe. Now that I am watching the insects more closely, I realize that it is from them that the native Americans got many of their designs.

* * *
In my dooryard, a baby jay squawks. He has been fussing all day. It must be his first day on his own. He does not seem to care much for freedom, does not know that now he has a chance to be his own bird.

A cardinal baby sits on my window feeder. He cocks his head to look at me and then eyes the sunflower seeds. A male and female cardinal sit several feet apart on a low branch nearby. The baby twirls a seed and eats it and then flies to sit between his parents. They all sit together, quietly, until the baby begins to flutter his wings, and call his "tsk, tsk" baby call. Then, the parents both fly away.

"Red and shiny-new, black beaked baby, your journey through life has begun. The beautiful, wild woods is waiting to be your home. You will never be alone there. I know. I live there too."


It is time to get out all the green bean recipes. Fresh green beans are incomparable.

Pork and Green Beans
Make a slit in the side of: 4 one-inch thick pork chops.
Stuff with a mixture of: 1 small onion and 1 stalk celery chopped and 
sauteed in 2 T. butter, 1/2 t. poultry seasoning, salt and pepper to 
taste, 1 1/2 cups bread cubes and water to moisten. Close with picks.
Brown chops in: 1 to 2 T. oil and move to the center of a 2 qt. covered
baking dish.
Pour grease from skillet and add: 1 cup water.
Add: 4 cups whole green beans, heat a few minutes and place around 
chops, using a small amount of the cooking liquid. Season with salt and pepper.
Cover and bake at 350o for 1 hour.

On early-summer evenings I give myself the luxury of riding along country roads. They are never more beautiful than when a remnant of wild roses and daisies linger, and day lilies cluster in every dip. Queen Anne's lace and bouncing bet have waked from their year's siesta, and trumpet vine blossoms stand tall above the fences and wrap themselves like garlands around and to the top of my trumpet tree.

Along one mile of my lane, I count 12 species of birds, one chipmunk, one turtle and eight baby rabbits. Every mile adds new flowers and birds: mints and crown vetch for lavender accents, elderberry blossoms exuding perfume, and buzzards and hummingbirds, the big and little of the bird world, adding variety.

* * *
Nothing could be more beautiful than these fluffy, speckled heartbeats of life. One baby takes a dust bath after his ablutions. A sparrow hops near and the baby puffs up and flaps it away. He is scrappy! He must be influenced by his human neighbor. He flies away . . . Free!
Copyright 1996, Jean Hughes.

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
Delphi, IN 46923

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