Happy 4th!

Subject:  Happy 4th!
Date:  Wed, 4 July 2001

Here in Squirrel Haven, it has been a good day to take it easy.  It seems the blink of an eye when family would be bustling about getting bikes decorated 

and chicken salad whipped together and our traditional double chocolate cake baked and frosted for the picnic.  The kids would have tied up their sneakers 

for the foot races and the family would have headed up to the pond for the swimming races.

My own favorite part has always been the flagpole ceremony.  This year, I had hoped to go, if either the college building or the library 

had been opened so I could camp out there during the parade.   Even if one of them had been opened, it is doubtful I would have made it.   This would have 

been a difficult day to get moving, even in my younger days.  It hit around 85F and still feels like 100% humidity, a good day to stay put in the big 

chair in the living room.

Elsa has been playing Americana tunes - Stephen Foster and Aaron Copeland and Sousa - to fill the house with a sense of the day.  To make sure that the 4th 

came to me if I was not able to get out to it, she "blew the wad" and has gussied up the front lawn in celebration of the day.  Fifty American flags 

line the driveway and the lawn at road's edge, four festive mylar balloons sail from the mail box, bunting hangs over the den window and there are other 

things I cannot recall that all together sing out, "Happy 4th!"   

Our "spring tree" transformed into a "summer tree" last night in the most delightful way.  Elsa had a workshop for four young ladies - Gretchen and 

Brett Pitcairn, Brooke Blair and Ali Elsing - to make double-chocolate cakes for their families' picnic tonight.  After they were done icing and having a 

high old time in the kitchen, they trooped into the living room and took down all the springtime flowers from the tree and gussied it up with tiny American 

flags, sea shells, sun flowers, butterflies and bees, and red, white and blue stars, with a pink dragon fly at the very top.   

It was wonderful to have special friends over the night before the 4th.  I always get lonesome for the past on the 4th.  Our family came together in 

smiles and fun more on that holiday than on any other day of the year.  There was often tension at Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter gatherings, but I 

only remember smiles and happiness over the 4th.   In 2000, Carol and Deno and Justine, with Lindsay Reuter, were special guests who helped us usher in 

Independence Day.  This year, it was the four lassies and two mothers - Keene and Kris - who helped us kick off the day.  

Special fun for me was visiting with Kris Pitcairn.  I find it remarkable that she is old enough to have a 14-year old son.  She is so kind when she 

talks to me.  Instead of sitting in the chair across from mine or standing close to me and looking down, she settles down in front of me so we are 

eye-to-eye.  It is a small courtesy that means a lot.  I am honored to add  her to our merry little band of Mindwalkers.   

Well, I must go.  Elsa and I have not decided what to have for supper.  We want something simple yet all-American to go with our own cake, which is not 

the traditional Lockhart double-fudge cake.  Elsa left it to John to decide the frosting - deep chocolate cake with fudge filling and a whipped white 

frosting over the top and sides, a combination of favorite flavors merged into one tasty toothsome dessert.  

It is very dark out and feels like it might break out into rain at any moment.  I am so glad that it has been good weather so far this 4th - it is 

just not the same when parades or picnic or fireworks are delayed even a day. 

  
Looking out the window as dusk fell, I noticed the fireflies seem out in force.  Last year, back when the three of us often ate supper out back in 

good weather,  we noticed that the fireflies seemed unusually active.  It was just around this time of year and we got to talking about how the fireflies 

get together every year to put on a 4th of July extravaganza for their woodland neighbors.   

We enjoyed - all three of us - that image and even now it brings a smile to my face and the happiness of remembrance to my heart.  

Pretty soon, I will be hearing the distant boom of fireworks at Tamamend Park, where Lower Southampton holds its celebration, and the sound of 

sparklers and firecrackers and cherry bombs from down the street, but none could top the image in my mind of the fireflies’ display in a deep woodland 

glen.   

I want to wrap this up and take a more look outside while I can still see the flags at lawn’s edge and the balloons aloft above the mail box, to be still a 

moment or two with Pete and memories, so many happy moments and memories.   

A special memory before my final good bye.   After Elsa tucked me in for my nap, we talked a bit about other 4ths.  A memory came to mind so crisp and 

clear, it could have been last week, not half a century ago.  I had made cowboy outfits for Mike and Mimmy to wear in the parade.  I made a pair of 

chaps for Mike using upholstry fabric that Aunt Fanny had given me and decorated them with horseshoes cut out of red oil cloth.  I used the fringe 

from the fabric for the hem of Mimmy's skirt.  As I was making them, I was wistful that Pete and I could not afford to buy them real costumes, that 

their hats were store bought hats but the rest were homemade.  Then, I got to where everyone was gathering for the parade and saw how the other cowboys and 

cowgirls were togged out - in their store bought finery - and looked at my son and daughter and realized with some pride that they were the best of the 

lot. 

That day brought home the fact that store bought - outfits as well as cakes - can rarely top homemade.

Happy Independence Day to one and all - A Yankee Doodle Grammie 

no posts until july 4th!

hard to believe we'll be into her final month of regular e-mails.

Celebrating the 19th - 06/19/01

sorry - so tired yesterday (seem to tire easily these days ~ bother!), didn't repost this 06/19/01 mindwalker1910 e-mail

Subject: Celebrating the 19th
Date: June 19, 2001

Elsa had her monthly get together at Barnes & Noble tonight and she did not get home until almost 10:00 p.m. (tonight, of all nights, the meeting ran late), so the three of us had a late supper (nibbles of left-over chicken kept me from feeling famished) and we did not go to see the church all lit up.

It is hard to believe I did not get to see the church all lit up - I can probably count on one finger how many times I have missed that beautiful sight. It looks so beautiful against the night sky, completely swathed in light, with the beautiful music floating over the night air.

On the other hand, if I had to choose between what happened here last night and seeing the church tonight, there is no contest. I would have picked last night.

In spite of having spent all last week driving from her job to the evening presentations at a polymer clay seminar at Bryn Mawr College, then staying there Saturday-Sunday morning, then back in Bryn Athyn in time to clean up after Contemporary Service (as scheduled) ~~ in spite of all that hustle and bustle, Elsa had a craft workshop here last night - "pretty" cake decorating, in time for today's 19th of June picnic.

It was so interesting to hear the girls’ comments and watch their concentration as they iced the cakes, which they iced the living room coffee table (it was easier for them to work at that lower height than at the kitchen island). They were so tidy, not a speck of icing got on the carpet - that is impressive all by itself. Sitting there in my big chair (the one Brenda calls Stickley-esque), it was a delight to hear them decide which colors to use, then tearing back into the kitchen to whip up the colors and pick the decorating tips.

The young ladies included Gretchen and Brett and Megan. None of them had decorated a cake before and you would never have guessed it. Elsa showed them how to ice the cake and then how to use some of the tips. I enjoy watching her work with children.

When the girls arrived, there were two plain cakes waiting for them. The cakes had been baked in a tube pan, so they were round with a hole in the middle.

Elsa explained that these plain cakes, which looked very plain indeed, were cocoons, and something spectacular and beautiful was waiting to be released. Then she took a cutting knife and cut each cake, right down the middle. Next, she took the halves and flipped them over so the two circular sides were back to back.

"It's a butterfly," she said. It did look like a butterfly!

I think that the girls must have used five or six different colors decorating the two cakes. It amazed me how quickly the girls picked up how to use the decorating tips and cones of icing. The body of the butterfly was a Vienna Finger covered with icing and the antennae were chocolate.

It was hard to see those cakes head out of the house. As I told the girls, I was worried we did not have boxes to put them in - they might fly away.

I enjoyed talking to the Moms when they stopped by to pick up their daughters. I have known Pam since she was a babe, but had never met Kris before. It was great fun talking to the two ladies while Elsa and the girls dashed between the living room and kitchen, finishing up the cakes. When they all left, I noticed how the Moms carried the cakes out as they were an
offering.

In a way they were - an offering of love from Elsa to the girls and the girls to their families. As tired as I was - I was bushed - I hated to see them head out the front door.

Yes, if I had to choose between the two nights, I would have chosen the girls and their Moms and those stunning cakes. What a wonderful way to celebrate the 19th of June.

With love from a tired lady who's about to head up the wooden hill - Ma L'

Sunday, a week ago 06/11/01

Subject: Mindwalkers - Sunday, a week ago
Date: Mon, 11 Jun 2001 00:26:37 EDT

Poor Elsa. She is hot and tired and sun-burned - after two days out at the Reading Air Show - and she had just finished this posting and her computer froze and she had to turn it off and lost everything she had transcribed just as I was near the end.

I have urged her to head to bed but she has a bee in her bonnet and wants to get this posting out before the day is over. We will see if she can do it. (I didn't - elm)

I was talking about what a difference a day makes. Our Saturday out in Lancaster County had some rough patches. The worst part was that I woke up from my nap with what Elsa described as wild eyes. I did not know what I was feeling when I woke up, but it was alarming. Then, that night, I got up every hour on the hour.

All three of us should have been drained when morning finally came. I can only speak for myself, but I felt surprisingly refreshed on Sunday morning. Some credit might go to the breakfast Elsa brought back from her early foray (I think she left around 7:00 a.m. - John and I were still fast asleep.) On her return, I feasted on Jennie’s bacon, a cup of excellent coffee, orange juice and - just right for a Pennsylvania Dutch breakfast - a pie of homemade raisin pie. Who would not feel restored after such a breakfast?

Elsa drove John over to the railroad museum, then headed back to pack up our gear and myself into the car. As we headed down the drive, I thought we were just heading out for a ramble, waiting for John to be done at Pennsy Days. Little did I know.

We dropped down Rt 896, toward a tiny bit of Maryland, then Delaware. I envisioned us sort of moseying on down to Borders, north of Wilmington, a place we both like a lot. In the meantime, I appreciated my surroundings. We passed a farmhouse with at least a good dozen buggies near the barn and a paddock filled with beautiful horses. Apparently, services were being held in the house. That was a good kickoff to a beautiful drive from Lancaster to Chester County.

As I said, I thought we were simply on a ramble until I became aware that Elsa had a sense of attentiveness that made me wonder if she was heading somewhere in particular. I noticed that we started seeing signs saying things like "Air Show next exit" and "Air Show - turn right" and that we were following the signs. It seems that Elsa had read about an air show at Toughkenemon (sp) and figured we could see at least something from the car, without the stress (on me) of actually going.

Indeed, we could. There were the planes that flew in a circle as parachutists jumped out - I did not see the parachutists, since a grove of trees blocked my line of sight at just the wrong moment. Elsa looked for a good spot for our viewing pleasure. She found a shady spot, pulled over, parked the car and pulled out a folding chair so I could watch in comfort. Oh my! There were planes that went straight up and did some very breath-catching stunts and other plans that acted as teams doing stunt flying.

Let me state, before continuing, that I really did not mean to deflate Elsa's sense of pride in making this special moment possible. How could she have guessed that all the spectacular flying stirred ancient - yet still keen - memories.

After one particularly heart-stopping bit of aerial derring do, I looked up at Elsa and said, in all innocence, "This reminds me of watching Col. Lindbergh and the Top Hatters at the Cleveland Air Races."

Elsa had a sort of queer look to her face as I continued, "Two of the planes flew what looked like straight at each other and just before they passed each other with less than a foot to spare, ZOOM! Col. Lindbergh’s plane flew straight up through the space they closed seconds later."

At that point, Elsa had a big smile on her face and a look I could not pinpoint (irony - elm). She grinned at me and said, "I don’t think I - or anyone one - could top that."

Thinking "In for the penny, in for the pound," I added, "And Jimmy Doolittle buzzed the airfield in his Doodle Bug."

After the air acrobatics seemed to end, we packed up my chair and headed back north, talking in the car about when I flew in an autogiro with test pilot Jim Ray and listening to him - a born story teller - regale myself and the Edwin Asplundh family with tales of his exploits and other test pilots.

It was a grand outing. Heading back north, Elsa plotted our path through West Grove. West Grove is renowned for masses of rose bushes. There were many different colors. My favorite were the masses of lush red roses across the way from the Red Rose Inn. One of these days, we are going to actually go there for dinner. (Margaret...?)

Being practical, Elsa took the opportunity to head up to Blue Ball, where she picked up ten papier mache boxes for the 2001-02 freshman. That is the first time she has started collecting them BEFORE 8th Grade graduation.

My tummy was definitely empty by this time. I did not know what treat Elsa had in store, although I should have guessed she was headed to our beloved People's Restaurant, except I always think that the place is closed on Sundays. In any case. we enjoyed a leisurely lunch at one of my favorite restaurants. Delicious home cooking.

I started to order flounder and cole slaw, when Elsa had a small conniption fit. "Mom, you’re in a restaurant with real down-home home cooking. And you’re ordering flounder and cole slaw??"

She is pushy, but she had a point.

I ordered roast turkey with dressing and cranberry sauce and stewed rhubarb and stewed tomatoes and apple butter and was happy as a clam.

We headed out around 3:30 p.m. and started to make our way due south to John. We went through more beautiful countryside. My goodness, I forgot to mention the buggies.

We saw more buggies than I can ever recall seeing before, sometimes four or five, one right behind another. There were buggies with older couples and buggies with younger couples and buggies with young children, one buggy with what looked like an over flow of teenagers with one young man half in and half out, courting buggies, and even one courting buggy with two young ladies on the seat and a young man literally bringing up the rear by holding onto the back of the buggy and keeping pace with the help of inline skates.

I saw several young Amish with inline skates. What a whimsical sight, at least to me.

(My, this posting is long, and the hour is late, but Elsa is determined to press on. It is fine by me, because I am well rested, but she must be bushed. She says she is not, so I cannot argue.)

As I said, our drop south took us through more beautiful countryside. At one pont, Elsa asked me, "Wow! Did you see that?" I am sure I have mentioned before my notorious habit of looking straight ahead. Elsa, on the other hand, with her father’s amazing peripheral vision, can spot interesting things even with her eyes are on the road. I had not seen a thing, so she stopped the car and backtracked several yards.

What a sight - the front property and driveway of a house set well off the road was brimming over with all sorts of iris. I could not begin to count how many different varieties we saw. There were deep, deep purple iris that looked more like orchids than iris, peach, cream, yellow, different shades of purple, what looked like double iris - the different types went on and on. It was a sight of such beauty, it’s effect is with me still.

We were sort of hushed after seeing that.

Anything else would be anti-climatic after that sight, so we just headed to the museum to check on the dear lad.

John was ready to get packed up and very happy with the day - two large and one small print sold and Bennett Levin interested in giving him a commission. A great beginning (and just the start of big things, as I described a few days ago) and well deserved, I might add. That is not just a proud M-I-L talking - John’s talents leaves me in awe.

I must admit that I was more than a little happy to see our house and home. The feeling of walking up that familiar driveway, navigating the front steps, entering that familiar doorway and stepping into... home.

They say that it is better to journey than to arrive - that is certainly not true when it comes to home. I agree with Dorothy - "There’s no place like home."

It is now well after midnight and I am about to reach over and shut down this computer (which does that enough all by itself) and boot my baby upstairs to bed.

We had a great time last weekend and I am glad to know I still can bop (mom was 91 - elm/6-11-11), even if in a more limited way than I would like.

Maybe next year I will feel more comfortable with the idea of someone coming in to look after me - I do prefer Elsa and John - and the two of them can head out on their own. Until that time arrives, this Gramster is grateful that they are lunatic enough to seem to actually enjoy having me tag along.

Nighty night and God bless - The Backroads Rambler’s #2 Favorite Passenger

Heavenly 05/08/01

the gramster didn't write a 06/10/01 posting, so am reposting this one - which i didn't have in may - instead...

Subject: Mindwalkers - heavenly
Date: Tue, 8 May 2001 22:23:24 EDT

I want to write about Sunday afternoon before the memory dims. It was a beautiful day, one that felt like it could have been a description in Memorable Relations, an experiencing of Heaven. I think it was because of the pink blossoms that chose that day to drift down to earth, leaving carpets of translucent pink. Do you know what I mean when I say that it looked as if the petals had an inner light? They did.

Of all the places that we saw on a drive, the one that seemed the most other worldly was Sue and Greg Odhner's property. To drive down past Janna and Chuck's and look down the hill and first see the beautiful azaleas to the left of the house, then the cherry or crabapple - I was too awed to tell you which - with its deep carpet of pink petals - - there are not words to describe the beauty of it. As we drove s l o w l y up toward the Elementary School, enjoying the dogwoods and the azaleas and the cherry trees and other beautiful flowers and blossoms.

We headed through Bryn Athyn, down Station Hill, across the tracks, over the bridge, up Fettersmill, turning right onto Terwood. As we started down the "rollercoaster" stretch of the road, I looked to my left. The vast meadow was filled with a beautiful yellow - golden rod? - which also looked lit from within in the late afternoon light, a magnificent sight. We were taken unawares by a flock of ravens which rose from the meadow - the sight of those pitch black birds against the glowing gold, rising up to the blue blue sky ... there are no words.

We turned down Cathedral Road, a short residential street that we rarely take. I thought Elsa had picked it because of the many dogwoods along the route. I thought she was turning dotty when she swung the car into the opposite lane - definitely in the wrong direction - then parked next to someone's lawn. I looked over and saw it - a perfect stand of purple iris, back lit by the late afternoon sun. I cannot describe how they looked, it is beyond me. I felt awed and happy and touched by an intense awareness of the Lord.

"Oh, Lord, Thou made Thy world too beautiful today."

A Different Experience 04/07/01

no mindwalker1910 posting for 06/09/01, so am taking the liberty of reposting this one, from 04/07:

Subject: a different experience
Date: Sat, 7 Apr 2001 23:42:25 EDT

(Someone in an online discussion commented) "Aunt Benita told me that in her day (early 20th Century) once your pregnancy started showing you didn't leave the house. I asked her why; she said it was an obvious you had had sex, so to be modest you stayed in."

Benita Acton Odhner was a contemporary of mine. We were good acquaintances for most of our lives and close friends toward the end of her life, when I made her supper almost every night for her last ten or eleven years. She had just celebrated her 70th birthday when I started, about a year after Pete died, so I would have been around 65.

In our younger years, she was pregnant with Carmond at around the same time I was pregnant with Peter; her daughter, Astrid, was no more than five or six years older, so by my calculations both of Benita's pregnancies were in the 1930s.

Maybe it was the custom in the Acton or Odhner family that a woman not stir out of doors once a pregnancy began showing, but please believe me that it was not the norm, not when I was pregnant with Peter in 1938 nor when my own mother was pregnant with my sister Betty in 1912.

From my childhood, I saw pregnant women out and about and I do not recall my parents or any adult expressing shock at a lack of modesty.

It might have been the case at the height of the Victorian era, but then that was what made the Victorian era, well, so "Victorian." In those days, they did not even refer to a woman being pregnant - she was in a "delicate way."

Speaking of those repressed and downtrodden Victorians, I find myself wondering if those Victorian ladies would jump at the chance to live in today's society. It is true that many of the scourges that beset the world and society at that time are just a distant memory today.

I wonder, though, if after hearing about children murdering other children and teachers, genocides and worldwide epedemics, the number of single parents and latchkey children, and the never-ending stress of our day, I wonder if they would consider we have it better than they did.

Internet Wizardry 04/03/01

posting the following because mom had NO post on 06/08/01 & i didn't have access to this posting on 04/03...

Subject: (women] Mindwalkers - Internet wizardy
Date: Tue, 3 Apr 2001 22:28:37 EDT

Late this afternoon, Elsa started reading the first Harry Potter book - Gail lent her the first three, reasoning that we really should read them, what with John illustrating Platform 9 3/4 - and she is already completely captivated. The book is about wizards and magic.

We had our own little bit of magic today here at Squirrel Haven, thanks to the Internet.

Carolyn Heldon sent John a feel better card and he received it hours (our time) "before" the time she sent it from Australia.

Talk about wizardry! It is, to me, awesome that someone "Down Under" can send a feel better card and it is received not only immediately, but apparently hours and hours "before" she sent it.

All the communication flying to and fro over the past three days (with John's illness & hospitalization) - activity I have never experienced before first hand in the same ways - has me thinking that the Internet is nothing short of magic, at least to me.

Remember, I am so old that I recall life before "talkies" and radios.

Another bit of magic arrived today via a get better card from Leslie Adams. Leslie's was based on the Harry Potter books and it features a magical train that passes through the Platform 9 3/4 gate and comes straight at you - if felt like it went right through you. John turned around and sent one right back to her that did the same thing, but that included a personal note from him.

Here is a bit more Internet wizardy for you - the three of us had a high old time checking out florists in Sydney via the Internet. We wanted to send Mike flowers in celebration of becoming owner of the hardware shop he managed for many years. We could look at pictures of available arrangements, get a feeling for the various florists, browse through the "best of" from flower shops on the other side of the world.

Even more magical was the arrangement finally sent off last Tuesday - an arrangement of flowers in a utility pail, "just right" for an upscale hardware shop. Wayne was the epitome of service (we thought the shop did not accept Elsa's credit card and we were happy when he assured us they did) and confirmed on Thursday when we checked
on the delivery that "Mr. Lockhart received the delivery at 4:30 Tuesday afternoon.

Here is a bit of our own Internet magic - Elsa "pasted" the Internet address of A Lazy Daisy in case any of you need to send flowers to friends in the Sydney area. So, we can work our own bit of Internet wizardy - and we did not even have to attend Hogwart's to learn how. http://www.lazydaisy.com.au/

Good night and God bless to all of my dear circle - Mum/Nan Lockhart