(WRITTEN IN SPRING, 2007)
This is a little bit to tell you what my lane looks like. I’m limited to my ranch and really limited to my lane. My house and meadows are the closest thing to me and I want to tell about what I have to endure.
I took my two little dogs to the entry of the ranch. We turned around and went slowly. At our turn around point there is a large sign embanked upon the hill surrounded by bunches of blossoms of narcissus and beautiful blooms of gold and white. The sign stands about two feet off the ground and says “Alpine Meadows”. Under that sign there is a place where a lot of English primroses live and lilies and so forth and in due course each will show off their advantage. Rearing up on the flag pole above the sign is a large plant which showers purple flowers late into the summer giving substance to an American flag flying high. That’s the first vision of my ranch. Now you know to look for the ranch name and the flag – when you see them you know you’re here.
The ranch is currently ungated and you can drive right in. Immediately you find yourself struggling to get past a lower land of jungles. Bedded from the tip of the blacktop to the fences on either side are more bunches of blossoms of narcissus and beautiful blooms of gold and white daffodils. As you coast down the lane you immediately encounter the flowering plum trees of the thundercloud variety that are some 20 feet high and all in their finest array. At their feet is a cloud of jonquils that continues down the lane to the house.
Everyday when I walk with my two little shiatsu dogs, I relish this sight. They know this lane well and you’ll hear from them once in awhile I suppose. The lane is fenced by a redwood picket fence criss-crossed and hanging full of redwood moss. A little different from the wire fences of I remember of my youth in Indiana.
When you look upward from the lane, a stream comes tumbling down at least 60-70 feet over the hill, over the big rocks and at least 7 little water falls and rapids down from the highway that crosses the lane that brings you to my house. This can be an emotional scene when the water is running heavily, jumping white and flourishing. At the bottom it comes through live oak trees which provide a bough cover over the road. Then on to a lower wooded area of live oaks, bay laurels and a number of other tree varieties.
One thing you may run into are gooseberry bushes, with stickers if you hit them to hard. I don’t care for them so much, so bring your buckets and fill them up and take them home and make some gooseberry pie.
We proceed to some giant live oak trees - the greatest display of the lane. Groups of little spring Lilly Bells grow here. They stand up a foot or so high and then the white bells droop over. Gosh darn it; I swear I’ve heard those bells tinkle. My little dog Kink and I go over and bend down and listen. Kink and I swear we hear them tinkle. My wife once told me that those flowers aren’t the tinkling kind. Well, I’m still not sure.
Up the lane a bit more are firecracker trees. They’re special too. When they get a lot of sun and ripen, they pop open with red blossoms.
On your left is an avenue of cedar trees – incense cedars about 18-20 feet tall. They are symmetric and very sweet. We have a few thousand on the ranch. If you wish a few of them, you can take a few seedlings, but I swear they are hard to plant.
Now you are confronted by two redwoods. One at 30 ft and one at 25 ft and they’re racing to see which one will be the tallest. This is the gateway to Bob and Lois’s yard. There are some other things you’ll encounter, like Azaleas and Oleanders. As you walk away from the house, going west, there are seven high and lovely Aspen trees. They are shapely and beautiful in the summer but especially lovely in the fall.
Now look to the right and you will see an open meadow interspersed with an occasional valley oak. In this great meadow that is upward bound and rather hilly, you have the best view of the ranch. Stop a while and enjoy the view of the river, redwoods and magnificent expanse. In the middle of the meadow up there, high up, is a great white, snow white quartz stone with a few black specks in it surrounded by flowers and trees with a little bench and copper plaque. This is the resting place of the ashes of my dearest girlfriend, my Lois. In the following years, I am hoping to make this area a display for her.
The next beacon is a tree that stands high above our house and is not a fruiting tree, but a flowering pear tree called the Bradford. It is quite tall now, I suppose 25 feet. Recently it burst into a zillion snow white blossoms with a tinge of red in the center. If you don’t look closely you won’t see it. I don’t understand this tree because it doesn’t give any fruit. But it sure does put on a display in the spring and again in the fall. Right now, the blossoms are ecstatic. When you enjoy this tree, try to guess how many blossoms are on it. I’ve taken a good look and used my binoculars and calculated them out but it doesn’t come out right. I’ve asked my dog and he looks at me like “Why are you asking me dummy”? I think there must be thousands, but I’ve never succeeded in counting them. I walk past this glorious sight every day and sheen often covers it. Then a slight little green arrives, the next day a little more and the third day it is all green and the blossoms are gone.
On my left down by the river by the A frame, I heard a commotion. My friend Clyde was with me that day. I asked him what that noise was. He said Bob, you won’t believe it but it’s a big turkey gobbler with its feathers all up and he’s doing his best to get into the glass door of the museum! That turkey gobbler got down right angry. He ran into the lane and spit he was so angry. He went back and attacked the window again because he could see another turkey in the window! When he saw my cart, he left. Earlier in the morning we saw 10 turkey gobblers having a picnic on the football field eating worms and grubs which are abundant this time of the year. Two of the gobblers had their feathers all displayed like they wanted to have their picture taken. So, I saw a lot of turkeys this morning, as I do most mornings.
We’ll continue our walk another day – what a lovely spring day and what a lovely lane.
This is a little bit to tell you what my lane looks like. I’m limited to my ranch and really limited to my lane. My house and meadows are the closest thing to me and I want to tell about what I have to endure.
I took my two little dogs to the entry of the ranch. We turned around and went slowly. At our turn around point there is a large sign embanked upon the hill surrounded by bunches of blossoms of narcissus and beautiful blooms of gold and white. The sign stands about two feet off the ground and says “Alpine Meadows”. Under that sign there is a place where a lot of English primroses live and lilies and so forth and in due course each will show off their advantage. Rearing up on the flag pole above the sign is a large plant which showers purple flowers late into the summer giving substance to an American flag flying high. That’s the first vision of my ranch. Now you know to look for the ranch name and the flag – when you see them you know you’re here.
The ranch is currently ungated and you can drive right in. Immediately you find yourself struggling to get past a lower land of jungles. Bedded from the tip of the blacktop to the fences on either side are more bunches of blossoms of narcissus and beautiful blooms of gold and white daffodils. As you coast down the lane you immediately encounter the flowering plum trees of the thundercloud variety that are some 20 feet high and all in their finest array. At their feet is a cloud of jonquils that continues down the lane to the house.
Everyday when I walk with my two little shiatsu dogs, I relish this sight. They know this lane well and you’ll hear from them once in awhile I suppose. The lane is fenced by a redwood picket fence criss-crossed and hanging full of redwood moss. A little different from the wire fences of I remember of my youth in Indiana.
When you look upward from the lane, a stream comes tumbling down at least 60-70 feet over the hill, over the big rocks and at least 7 little water falls and rapids down from the highway that crosses the lane that brings you to my house. This can be an emotional scene when the water is running heavily, jumping white and flourishing. At the bottom it comes through live oak trees which provide a bough cover over the road. Then on to a lower wooded area of live oaks, bay laurels and a number of other tree varieties.
One thing you may run into are gooseberry bushes, with stickers if you hit them to hard. I don’t care for them so much, so bring your buckets and fill them up and take them home and make some gooseberry pie.
We proceed to some giant live oak trees - the greatest display of the lane. Groups of little spring Lilly Bells grow here. They stand up a foot or so high and then the white bells droop over. Gosh darn it; I swear I’ve heard those bells tinkle. My little dog Kink and I go over and bend down and listen. Kink and I swear we hear them tinkle. My wife once told me that those flowers aren’t the tinkling kind. Well, I’m still not sure.
Up the lane a bit more are firecracker trees. They’re special too. When they get a lot of sun and ripen, they pop open with red blossoms.
On your left is an avenue of cedar trees – incense cedars about 18-20 feet tall. They are symmetric and very sweet. We have a few thousand on the ranch. If you wish a few of them, you can take a few seedlings, but I swear they are hard to plant.
Now you are confronted by two redwoods. One at 30 ft and one at 25 ft and they’re racing to see which one will be the tallest. This is the gateway to Bob and Lois’s yard. There are some other things you’ll encounter, like Azaleas and Oleanders. As you walk away from the house, going west, there are seven high and lovely Aspen trees. They are shapely and beautiful in the summer but especially lovely in the fall.
Now look to the right and you will see an open meadow interspersed with an occasional valley oak. In this great meadow that is upward bound and rather hilly, you have the best view of the ranch. Stop a while and enjoy the view of the river, redwoods and magnificent expanse. In the middle of the meadow up there, high up, is a great white, snow white quartz stone with a few black specks in it surrounded by flowers and trees with a little bench and copper plaque. This is the resting place of the ashes of my dearest girlfriend, my Lois. In the following years, I am hoping to make this area a display for her.
The next beacon is a tree that stands high above our house and is not a fruiting tree, but a flowering pear tree called the Bradford. It is quite tall now, I suppose 25 feet. Recently it burst into a zillion snow white blossoms with a tinge of red in the center. If you don’t look closely you won’t see it. I don’t understand this tree because it doesn’t give any fruit. But it sure does put on a display in the spring and again in the fall. Right now, the blossoms are ecstatic. When you enjoy this tree, try to guess how many blossoms are on it. I’ve taken a good look and used my binoculars and calculated them out but it doesn’t come out right. I’ve asked my dog and he looks at me like “Why are you asking me dummy”? I think there must be thousands, but I’ve never succeeded in counting them. I walk past this glorious sight every day and sheen often covers it. Then a slight little green arrives, the next day a little more and the third day it is all green and the blossoms are gone.
On my left down by the river by the A frame, I heard a commotion. My friend Clyde was with me that day. I asked him what that noise was. He said Bob, you won’t believe it but it’s a big turkey gobbler with its feathers all up and he’s doing his best to get into the glass door of the museum! That turkey gobbler got down right angry. He ran into the lane and spit he was so angry. He went back and attacked the window again because he could see another turkey in the window! When he saw my cart, he left. Earlier in the morning we saw 10 turkey gobblers having a picnic on the football field eating worms and grubs which are abundant this time of the year. Two of the gobblers had their feathers all displayed like they wanted to have their picture taken. So, I saw a lot of turkeys this morning, as I do most mornings.
We’ll continue our walk another day – what a lovely spring day and what a lovely lane.
I remember typing this story... mostly because Bob loved telling it... he loved talking about springtime on his ranch. Bob's imagination and story telling is so great--"struggling to get past a lower land of jungles." Jungles in Boonville? Makes me smile every time. He wrote a series of letters called "The Lane" around that time, too (hint, hint).
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad dad wrote down his insights and experiences and perceptions of "his little corner of the world!" He had such an appreciation for and love of nature and life!
ReplyDelete