When we lived at 302 Oak Avenue ( Scott Simmons' house; the numbers on the street have changed, but the house is still there) in Carrboro, mom always had something going in her garden. I remember that I, a four-year-old tyke at the time, would pick her tomatoes while they were still green, and eat them off the vine.
Around back, she had a compost heap. She explained that the trash would eventually "cook" into food for the plants. I thought that was wonderful. It probably had a lot to do with how she told the story.
Mom was not always successful with her garden. For one thing, her zucchini, cucumbers, and okra were enormous (I was very proud. I wouldn't eat them, but I was proud).
She told me a story later about what I think must have been our two-week trip to Florida (Disney World. Yay!) She had apparently left the pumpkins untended for those two weeks, and they had spread arms everywhere; into the neighbors' yards, into the streets...everywhere. To hear mom tell it, the Giant Pumpkin Monster took over the neighborhood in a sinister takeover.
She was really good at most things she tried her hand at, and those she failed at..well, she told good stories about them, with grand flair and charm.
Jeez. Here come the waterworks. I though I was over this.
Good night.
