Sugar Grove
By Paula Mitchell
Spring is here. Just look around! All at once the flowering trees have bust into full bloom, decorating the landscape with their beauty.
The Bradford pear trees with their billowing white dresses, and the forsythia showering gold spreading fronds of yellow have delighted the viewer. Now it is the flowering crab apple trees, and the sweeping cherry trees bowing gracefully. The showy lavender-pink flowers of the redbud trees with their twigs covered with flowers are so beautiful. The flowers are edible and can be eaten raw in salads. Soon to bloom will be the dogwood trees with their cross-shaped white petals with the crown of thorns in the middle of the blossom.
Dandelions magically appear through the new grass, bright polka dots that reflect sunbeams. Tiny blue violets are peeping through the green grass as well. Mushroom hunters are searching the woods in search of the delicate morels. Leisurely walk through the woods to notice the wood anemones, the yellow fawn lily, trout lily, trillium, wild asparagus, and the Jack -in- the- pulpit.
This used to be marble season during the one/two room school days. Each person had a favorite shooting marble, called a “shooter” which was guardedly kept. Mothers must have surely looked back on the marble games with mixed emotions, for they took their toll in the knees of the blue jeans. Hopscotch was a great game to play, also. All one needed was a piece or two of glass to mark the squares, some pebbles, and perfect balance. (Don’t know if any children play marbles or hopscotch today).
This month is a pink and dainty month. In the early Indian days, the April moon was called Pink Moon, Sprouting Grass Moon, Egg Moon, and Fish Moon. With April coming in on the strings of April Fool’s Day, the day reminds one to have a sense of humor. A sense of humor is necessary in all walks of life and in every area of life. The ability to laugh at one’s self relieves a stressful moment, and keeps a person humble. One can never become conceited when one can laugh at one’s own foibles. In tense serious situations, someone with an optimistic attitude is a joy to be around. Laughter can bring an end to a dispute, clear the air, and banish the anger dregs. One can’t stay mad when laughing.
So, to the reader, enjoy April. May all your days be “sunshine days.”
Life’s little lessons to make one’s day better include the following:
- Massage tense muscles.
- Count to 10.
- Cry if necessary.
- Keep noise down.
- Sing a song.
Sugar Grove is sure a pretty sight to behold. The redbud, as well as the apple trees, are in bloom. (Interested in a showing of redbud? Travel Interstate 81 south all the way to Wytheville, Virginia).
The colorful variety of phlox at the late Junior and Clinton Ann Bowers’ house welcomes the visitors to the Sugar Grove community. Even the “smile” which is situated on Route 21, (past Bruce and Bill Hoover’s home) is in the same mode. Residents are preparing their hummingbird feeders in anticipation for the arrival of the tiny birds.
This week’s clickety-clacks for the chin waggers are as follows:
- There are more sheep than people in New Zealand.
- Egyptian civilization is one of the oldest in the world, with recorded history dating back more than 5,000 years.
- There are 1 million camels that roam wild in Australia’s deserts, the largest number of purebred camels in the world. They are exported to the Middle East.
- All of the four other Great Lakes, plus three more the size of Lake Erie, would fit inside Lake Superior.
- Hummingbirds are the only birds that fly backwards.
Sitting outside to enjoy the surrounding beauty is a good place to hear the “Talk of the Grove.”
A Brushy Fork report from the Roger and Reda Shewsbury home states that 3 inches of rain fell in the area. The creeks, streams and river have swollen in a muddy wrath. Winds have been part of the mixture, blowing quite blustery.
Bennie and Linda Custer of Verona, Virginia, were Saturday visitors of Willard and Judy Rader. They all enjoyed a delicious meal at Gateway Restaurant and going to Smoke Hole Caverns.
Justin, April, Colby, and Chloe Simmons enjoyed the weekend in Morgantown for the Pendleton County Wildcat baseball games. They also stopped in to watch a West Virginia University baseball game.
On Friday evening, Leslie and Shaun Bowers celebrated their daughter’s, Ava’s, 13th birthday with friends and family.
Phil Downs had spent several days this past week with his aunt, Wanda Pitsenbarger.
The lawn mowers have been brought back from their winter habitats. Lawn mowing has been moving at a pretty fast past. Homeowners are tidying up their lawn landscaping and removing twigs and branches brought down during the winter months. Cutting of brush has also improved the efforts.
Jack and Cindy Bowers have begun the volunteer efforts of highway pick-up. Many volunteers are planning to follow suit. The highway department has cleaned out the ditches, and the Sugar Grove community, far and wide, is taking on a much more dignified look.
Quotes for the week are as follows:
“No rain, no flowers.” — Haruki Murakami
“April is a reminder that life is a beautiful, ever-renewing cycle.” — E.E. Cummings
“April, dressed in all its trim, hath put a spirit of youth in everything.” — William Shakespeare
“April is the sweetest month of the year, the mellow season of rebirth and renewal.” — Mary Sojourner
“April is a moment of joy for those who have survived the winter.” — Samuel Johnson
Concerns for this week are as follows: Bob Adamson, Rick Adkins, John Ashley, Roger and Joan Ashley, Mercedes Aumann, Lynn Beatty, “Bo” Boggs, Jane Conrad, Marie Cole, Christian Dasher, Benny Evick, Isaac Eye, Linda Eye, Marie Eye, Mary Eye, Neal Eye, Carl Gant, Loralee Gordon, Lola Graham, Patsy Green, JC Hammer, Marlene Harman, Marvin Hartman, the Woodrow Hartman family, Steve and Armanda Heavner, Grace Hedrick, Jim Hiner, Tim Hively, Edsel and Mary Ann Hogan, Virgil Homan, Jr., Doris Hoops, Adelbert Hoover, Keith Hoover, Myrtle Hoover, Debbie and Enos Horst, Lisa and Mike Jamison, Jessica Janney, Alice Johnson, Richard Judy, Ruthaleen Judy, Marsha Keller, Kim Kline, Ginger Knight, Tracie Knight, Melissa Lambert, Robert Lambert, Ronnie Lambert, Rex Landis, Roger and Skip Mallow, Yvonne Marsh, Ed May, Gary McDonald, Neil McLaughlin, Rose Miller, Bruce Minor, Tom Mitchell, Barbara Moats, John Morford, Helen Nash, Aaron Nelson, Ruth Nelson, Cheryl Paine, Wanda Pitsenbarger, Alda Propst, John O. Propst, Kathy Propst, Mike Propst, Sheldon Propst, Stanley Propst, Tom Rader, Brandon Reel, Charles Rexrode, Jason Rexrode, Jerold “Jerry” Rexrode, Pam Rexrode, Dennis Riggleman, Donna Ruddle, Jenny Ruddle, Brittany Shriver, Annie Simmons, Phyllis Simmons, Erin Simmons, Eva Simmons, Robbie Sites, Mike Skiles, Donnie Smith, Stanna Smith, Tina Stuben, Elizabeth Terry, Rosa Tichenor, Sandra Vandevander, Raymond Varner, Amy Vaus, Estelle Wagner, Rene White, Judy Williams, Ann Wimer and Margaret Wimer.
