The little tree that could.

In 1990, I bought Liz this Japanese maple as a birthday gift. We choose a sunny spot in the yard where it would be prominent. Three years later, I noticed it was not growing and looking for the worse. After some research, I discovered Japanese maples don't like sunny places. It was burning up and would probably die. In 1996, hurricane Fran blew over a 70 foot cedar tree on top of this Japanese maple. Fortunately, there was a hole between two branches and the tree was not harmed. Two weeks later, a cleanup crew came through.........and as they were clearing the cedar tree away, it rolled onto the Japanese maple. The crushed and mangled little tree finally met it's match. By the next spring, I noticed it had some new growth. I cleaned off the dead broken branches and gave it some food and mulch. Every year, this little tree shows lichen growth on it's branches..........which indicates dead branches ..........but it continues to fill out with red leaves. This little survivor is twenty years old and the same size as when we planted it. I realized today that if this little tree can make it............so can I.

An event called "Flight of Honor" sponsored by Rotary Club 7680 in Charlotte, flew over 100 World War II veterans to Washington D.C. for a tour of the World War II memorial. Upon returning at the airport, they were greeted by over 300 flag waving, hand shaking, cheering, people consisting of family, friends and other veterans. I was moved to tears as one of the W.W.II veterans was my father.

Rocky Mount NC

The cup

About a month ago, my favorite drinking cup had a mishap with gravity and I needed another one. This cup was a piece of pottery from the Seagrove area. It had dented sides that fit my hand perfectly. I bought my other cup several years ago........... and to remember where, out of a couple of dozen potters in the area..........was going to be a brain squeeze. Liz took over camera duty so I could focus all my brain cells on finding the right potter. Liz, with her artistic eye, is an excellent photographer and all the images are hers.
I choose a country route through the rolling hills of the Uwharries which took us through Coleridge. Coleridge was a cotton mill community on the Deep river. The mill is no longer producing cotton products or a community....................only photo opportunities.
When we approached the Seagrove area, I knew it was going to be a hit and miss endeavor. Each potter store we explored, I quickly scanned for the cups while Liz was chasing light with her camera. After several false alarms, I recognized "Hard Times pottery" as the place I remembered..........except........it was closed.
I hesitated to leave and wondered, sense this was a private residence, the owner may be sitting in her kitchen......... watching us with binoculars.........trying to decide, are they buyers or lookers. I tried to look as disappointed as I could. I imagined I just found out I was adopted and my parents are from the South Bronx and has never had grits or fried bologna. After a few moments, a car pulled up........and it was the owner.
She had three cups left and one fit perfectly. On the way home, I was thinking that Liz and I just had a wonderful treasure hunt. I found two treasures.....a cup........and another........"remember that time".......with Liz.