Gratitude Once Again and Reminiscing

 

Once again, as Spring continues to unfold, I am filled with gratitude for all those who over the last twelve years have tended the Prospect Prairie Gardens or contributed in some other way. For example, several years ago Steve, who was also a regular volunteer, arrived one day with what looked like a stick having hair-like roots. Steve assured me that the stick was a red bud. Now a corner is filled with brilliance. 

Steve now lives in Ashland near his daughter, her husband and his grandson. I often think of Steve when I pause and admire this red bud. This red bud and others, apple blossoms in the UW-Arboretum, and flowers in neighborhood gardens seem more brilliant this year. Is it just me? Or maybe the side effects of the hopefully receding pandemic? 

Speaking of the pandemic. Ann and I are cautiously venturing out. On April 27th we met in Appleton, my brother Lou, his wife, Corine, my nephew Mike and his wife, Cathi, for a long overdue visit and lunch at Pullman's. We talked for a long time after enjoying our lunch. We were the last ones to leave the restaurant after nearly a two and half hour stay.  On May 7th we had pizza with friends Bob and Claudia at Ian's in the renovated Garver Mill. Siting outside was a little chilly. Two of my small groups are now meeting outside instead of on Zoom.  

Earth Day included tending the Gardens. Thank you Ann R., Amy and Dave for being part of this first official 2021 work session. Thank you Joyce and Percy who worked earlier in April.

Saturday, April 24th, was a special day and another reason to be grateful. These three members of West High School's Leo Club and their advisor, Rick, arrived and were ready for serious gardening. Pictured, starting at the left, are Misha, Maddie and Frosya. All three are sophomores.

These members of Generation Z have a very strong work ethic. The three, along with Rick, quickly and effectively mulched the raspberry patch and another section. They ended the three hour work session with cutting back plant remnants and weeding.  

The students wore masks because they were not yet vaccinated. Ann and I are fully vaccinated, but wore masks when near the students. Plus all of us practiced social distancing. This season, unlike last year, small groups of volunteers can now tend the Gardens. Maintaining social distancing is still recommended and easy because the Gardens cover about 6200 square feet.  

Here's Frosya cutting dried stalks left over from last season. You can see the new growth below the clippers. Frosya quickly cleared this section of the Garden. 

 

  

          

Here's Misha with a handful of dried plant material. Just a pause before she went back into action. I bet there is a smile behind that mask.

Our three diligent gardeners are in front of the pile of plant material that resulted from their labor. Camera shy advisor Rick also worked hard. Thank you Rick. 

                                              

Tessa and Olivia (top)

Last Saturday, May 8th, Misha and Frosya returned to again lend a helping hand. Olivia and the new Leo Club advisor, Tessa, joined the team. Tessa is a nurse, a West High School graduate, and former Leo Club member.

Misha, Frosya, Olivia and Tessa first took up the challenge of removing waterleaf from the Hosta Garden. After removing the waterleaf, the Leo Club team moved to other sections of the Garden.

Waterleaf is one of those plants that is a great ground cover but spreads rapidly.  Whether waterleaf is classified as a weed depends upon location and individual preference. Let's just say, waterleaf was not a good neighbor to the hostas, the jacob's ladder, the jack-in-the pulpits and other woodland plants. I must say I had some hesitancy about evicting the waterleaf. 

 

Joining us was Isabel (Isa), an Edgewood College sophomore majoring in elementary education. She is on our scheduled break. Metcalfe's cookies were offered. 

Isa also was a diligent worker and seemed to enjoy weeding the east end of the hosta garden. Isa, sometimes bent over, made her way up the steep slope while listening to music. Thank you Isa for your good work. 

Isa is a Bonner Leader. The Bonner Leaders Program provides scholarships to selected students who are committed to community service and learning about social issues and social change. Students spend two to four years working with a team of other Edgewood College students on specific community service initiatives. Leaders meet regularly as a group to learn about social justice issues, community leadership, and civic engagement. Sending gratitude to Virginia, the Bonner Program Coordinator, who made the connection with Isa.

 

Laura With Scissors 

Two neighborhood volunteers joined  the weeding brigade. Here's Laura. Laura is sometimes camera shy and  hides when I want to take a picture. Her gardening scissors make an interesting addition to her face mask. 

Thank you Laura for your long term commitment to Prospect Gardens. If I am recalling right, she was one of the first volunteers twelve years ago.  

Found this on the Web and I think it's meant for Laura.

LAURA

L:  LUSTER, you shine!
A: AGREEABLE, the best side of you
U: UNDERSTANDING, you show others
R: RADIANT, it's your personality
A:AFFIRM, the certainty of knowledge

Here's Ann R., another stalwart and hard working volunteer. Ann has been volunteering now for several years. Ann's husband, Mark, sometimes joins Ann. 

The name Ann is of  Hebrew, English origin and means "grace".  "Grace" has several definitions, including "simple elegance" and "courteous goodwill", and these words certainly describe Ann.

Ann lives in the Regent neighborhood. The Regent Neighborhood Association and the Dudgeon-Monroe Neighborhood Association jointly sponsor and financially support the Gardens. Another bow of gratitude to these two neighborhood associations and to Ann R.

Working with the Leo Club reminded me when I taught sophomores at West Bend, West High School. The year is 1971 when teachers wore shirts and ties.  Note my long hair and sideburns. 

Now, the barber cuts what is left of my hair in less than 10 minutes (pandemic time cut by Ann-one half  hour). My dear mother-in-law, Ethel, once commented: "Jake, since I have known you, you have lost a lot of hair." She was a resident at St. Mary's Care Center. Ann and I were visiting her and during a quiet time she looked at our wedding picture, glanced at me, and made the truthful assessment. 

Here's me listening to a student delivering a report. Students often researched topics and presented in small groups, such as this one.  I was a third year teacher and team taught with Bill Bast. We taught a course entitled "American Studies." Bill had a Ph.D. and loved teaching. He chaired the Social Studies Department. 

We were on "modular scheduling" and in a newly opened high school; actually two side-by-side high schools that shared common facilities. Modular scheduling meant we met students in different configurations. Small group discussions were the dominant mode of instruction. Lectures were used to introduce units and presented to all enrolled sophomores assembled in a large room.  

We did not use a textbook. Instead, the curriculum consisted of thematic units; for example, a unit on American Industrialization. This unit ended with students presenting their projects during a fair attended by community members. Many students made posters and museum like exhibits and were available for comments with attendees.  

We had a resource room stacked with paperbacks and other learning materials that students used. We met individually with students who were academically challenged or were experiencing problems. If needed, we created special assignments or had students report to the resource room for extra help by the teacher's aide in charge of the resource room.

Those were good days; filled with excitement, challenge and rewarding. During my last eight years of my long educational career I had the great fortune of being the coordinator of an evaluation unit which was part of a natural resource center, now the UW Natural Resources Institute. My interest in prairie gardens is an extension of those eight years working with individuals who cared deeply about this interdependent world we inhabit. 

Thanks for staying with this tangent down memory lane. I end with gratitude for one of my favorite poets, Mary Oliver. Here's her poem " Spring in the Classroom" with its delightful ending. 

Spring in the Classroom

Elbows on dry books, we dreamed

Past Miss Willow Bangs, and lessons, and windows,

To catch all day glimpses and guesses of the greening

 woodlot,

Its secrets and increases,

Its hidden nests and kind.

And what warmed in us was no book-learning,

But the old mud blood murmuring,

Loosening like petals from bone sleep.

So spring surrounded the classroom, and suffered to be 

    kept indoors,

Droned through lessons, carved when we could with 

    jackknives

Our pulsing initials into the desks, and grew

Angry to be held so, without pity and beyond reason,

By Miss Willow Bangs, her eves two stones behind glass,

Her legs thick, her heart

In love with pencils and arithmetic.

So it went—one gorgeous day lost after another

While we sat like captives and breathed the chalky air

And the leaves thickened and birds called

From the edge of the world -- till it grew easy to hate,

To plot mutiny, even murder. Oh, we. had her in chains,

We had her hanged and cold, in our longing to be gone!

And then one day, Miss Willow Bangs, we saw you

As we ran wild in our three o'clock escape

Past the abandoned swings; you were leaning
All furry and blooming against the old brick wall 

In the Art Teacher's arms.