Visiting Mom

And now for a break in our regularly scheduled program... while I will continue to upload excerpts from my doctoral exams, I thought I would break up the high brow discourse with a few vacation photos and reflections on my recent trip to Maine. For those of you who don't know, my mom and stepdad moved back to his hometown in Maine a few years ago and bought a 200 year old (is that right?) farmhouse on a river complete with three story barn in the back.


I decided that I needed a vacation after all my studying for exams all summer and jumping right into teaching this fall. I am very thankful for fall breaks! It turns out that my stepdad was away all week and so my mom and I had time to ourselves. We ate out with friends of hers, wandered in cemeteries, through forest preserves, and on the beach, and she even helped me do a little sewing project.

I never know how my mom does it. She has a great garden in front of her house... well, in front and back of her house. There is a huge rhubarb patch on her front lawn, a flower garden along her back walkway, and a vegetable patch off to the side. She harvested all the pumpkins above (and one little watermelon) while I was there. I have not inherited any of her outdoor gardening ability and have none of her fortitude for the work that is required.

I remember as a kid how much I hated the gardening we had to do. Once a year we were required to weed the back hill. It was covered with ivy, pampas grass, and other plant life... and if I remember a bit of animal life as well. Oh, yes, and there was the front hill as well covered in juniper bushes. I think all three of us (my brother, sister and I) whined and complained for several weeks before the big day. Now mowing the lawn... that was a different story. I kind of enjoyed that. It was a small, manageable square of land. But I think that chore most often went to my brother. I don't know why we... I should say I... both my brother and sister are attempting landscaping and gardening at their homes... never took to outdoor gardening. I would like to... I have made a few attempts... but then something else always comes along. If only we could inherit all the good things that our parents try to pass down to us.