{"id":27739,"date":"2015-06-21T18:00:43","date_gmt":"2015-06-21T23:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/?p=27739"},"modified":"2015-06-21T18:50:58","modified_gmt":"2015-06-21T23:50:58","slug":"a-country-garden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/the2seasons.com\/?p=27739","title":{"rendered":"A Country Garden and A Skunk"},"content":{"rendered":"

“Honey, now we have a skunk.”<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"country<\/h3>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Country<\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

Those were the last words I heard my dad say to my mother as I crawled into the guest room bed at my parent’s house last night.\u00a0 There was a touch of glee in his voice.\u00a0 On the other hand, I was horrified and had to check it out.\u00a0 I got out of bed to go see the latest occupant of my parents’ ever-growing, ever-changing outdoor menagerie.\u00a0 By the time I got there, the skunk had gone behind the garden shed, according to my dad.\u00a0 I breathed a sigh of relief and went back to bed.<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Country<\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

Mother and Daddy, who are celebrating their 69th wedding anniversary<\/span> today, live in the country.<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Grandma's<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

They live on two acres of land\u00a0 with wonderful views.\u00a0 Daddy, who is 92, does the mowing on a riding mower, and Mother, age 88, tends to the flowers.<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

\"Country<\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

She is just itching to get her hands on the weed-eater, but we keep saying no.\u00a0 That might not stop her, though.<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Country<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This is not where I grew up.\u00a0 They moved to this house in a little hamlet about 12 years ago to be closer to my brother and his family. He retired to a 30 acre farm after living in Baltimore all of his adult life.<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Country<\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

Every morning, Daddy fills numerous bird feeders that promptly get emptied by a huge variety of bird species that visit throughout the day.\u00a0 All of the birdhouses offer protection to any who need a rest or a home.The chipmunks, rabbits, deer, and ground hogs also come to nibble on the seeds that drop to the ground, on the grass, and on Mother’s flowers.<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Country<\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

When these critters first arrive, she marvels at how cute they are.\u00a0 By the time they have eaten all of her blooms, they aren’t so cute any more.<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0\"Country<\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

Daddy is also raising a blind rabbit that he rescued in its infancy last year after Mother by accident struck it with her garden hoe.\u00a0 At first he kept it alive by feeding it evaporated milk with an eye dropper, and now he feeds it huge mounds of food every day to both his and its delight.<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0\"Country<\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

My parents truly do come from The Greatest Generation.\u00a0 Daddy was wounded in World War II three times and also served in the Korean War, even though he was married, had a small child, and one on the way.\u00a0 They are from a generation of strong people who weren’t afraid to work and never complained about it.\u00a0\u00a0 I don’t think we make them like that any more, and that’s a scary thought.<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Country<\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

There are two things I know for sure:\u00a0 I wouldn’t be the person I am without the strong foundation they gave me, and that skunk is probably the luckiest skunk alive for showing up on their little piece of God’s land.<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0\"Mother<\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

Please join me in wishing my parents a Happy Anniversary.\u00a0 And I couldn’t write this post without giving a shout out to my brother who is celebrating his birthday.\u00a0 Thanks so much for stopping in.<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

Take care.<\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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