My Grandfather's Garden

On this dreary winter day I had to close my eyes and think of something special.

My Grandfather's Garden

Just a sun tanned kid hanging out with her Pap clad in denim overalls,

Two smiles walking from the garage to the green patch sewn next to the huge pine trees,

Grandma is not going to turn the oven on in this heat so we are going picking,

Green then brown go the neatly hoed rows,

The tomatoes stalks are tall and staked with twine off a ball,

Red, heavy tomatoes hang off the vine and leathery, yellow green veins crack the tops of their skin,

Giant, lazy zucchini hide under large stems and leaves, 

Bushy delicate leaves clustered together have long beans dangling,

The corn is young yet still the stiff, sturdy vegetable standing erect,

I walk behind Pap as he inspects and I jump in delight as I see a flash of slithering green!

He quickly plants a foot forward in the dirt and grabs it. A garden snake wiggles at the end of his hand as if on a fishing hook, neat!

The lettuce determines dinner,

Pap says it's time to pick or they will get larger and acidic,

I have a wooden basket cuffed under my arm and I am ready,

So it's leafy lettuce and luscious tomatoes Pap drops in the basket,

BLT sandwiches and he picks more tomatoes for Grandma to marinate for tomorrow,

He picks a couple zucchini to take to his Mom and the basket starts to get heavy,

We keep going to the end and he points up at the pine trees and laughs,

Look we have gourd stalks climbing the trees! 

I give him my big grin, I just love being with him,

We walk back to the house and I ask him if I can water the garden tonight and of course he says, yes.

Everyday American Lass Meets You!

Hello.

I chose everyday because I wanted to incorporate happenings along my curvy path called life and not just all about my hobbies and products I sell at my Etsy store. That could be pretty boring.
I live in a medium size town in PA. Pittsburgher's drive out my way and further to get away from the city. I grew up learning the hustle of the antique business. There were of course other things but, the talent of learning to sell and go for the clincher has always stuck with me. The many interesting people I met at antique shows as a kid really taught me a lot about people and reading people's body language. The study of it was fascinating and proved productive later in life in sales. My now deceased,  beloved Grandfather taught me the old school way of caring for antiques and telling their story to people.
The stories  I could tell about twisty sales and old timers may prove a good throw back tale for some of you. Some of the characters like Bob in his cuffed jeans, black jack boots, slicked pompadour hair and tan hardened face remind me of the people Richard Pryor so eloquently described and acted out.
How did my Grandfather, Dick Casteel go from being a barber to a successful, top Chevy car salesman and antique dealer? Well a friend got him off the corner hanging with friends to barber school. Prior to that he dabbled in another friends funeral business but, proved not to fit his personality. However I was told in the sixties kids were coming back from war and things were radically changing from the close cut and coiffed styles like Bob. Kids were letting their hair down and barber's were loosing business fast. So my Grandfather started his new journey from there. And that makes me think of the very big, red leather barber chair that set in the corner of the game room for years. One of the many things that created a menagerie I was freely allowed to wander around and touch.