I love to read newspapers. We take three at the house, two local dailies and one national daily. I regularly follow several different columnists. One of my current favorites is Neosho’s very own Russell Hively. I look forward to his observations as he recounts his daily walks along the boulevard and the various people and sights he encounters.
This week I’ve been fortunate to see some of my summer favorites; the first of which being fireworks tents. It is so exciting to drive around a country highway corner and spot a red, white and blue canvas top. This is such a tough time of the year not to want to just pour money into their hands. So far, I’m 43 years old and I’ve never met a firecracker I didn’t like. Some are better observed from a distance, but the smell of gunpowder in the air and the sound of firecrackers popping all over town is heavenly.
I also recently noticed the mimosa trees are blooming. My maternal grandfather had a big mimosa tree in the back yard. The main limbs were spread out like a lotus blossom from the base of the tree trunk, creating the perfect base for my grandfather to safely dry dock his boat between trips to Grand Lake. It was also the best spot in the world for all of us grandkids to pretend we were pirates on the high seas of northeast Oklahoma.
My grandmother patiently allowed my sister and me to bring in handfuls of pink, powder-puff mimosa blossoms. She arranged our bouquets in jelly jars and balanced them on the kitchen window sill once they began overflowing the kitchen table.
Driving down to Anderson, I also noticed Indian paintbrush and Queens Lace growing by the roadside, both are sure signs that summer has arrived. As much as I love summer and fireworks, I hate bugs more, so I’ve never ventured out into the weeds to grab any of these wild flowers. There’s no good reason to have chiggers or ticks and I don’t want to play hostess to their feasting. So I leave the summer blooms where they are, best observed at high speed, a dizzying blur of orange and white.
As bright and sunny as the summer flowers and as exciting as a firecracker was my good fortune to run into Jeannine Wolff. Jeannine is one of those dynamic people that knows exactly what she wants to say, says it quickly and with great flair. She always has a hug or pat on the back ready. In the 20-plus years that I’ve known her I can never remember one time that I wasn’t thrilled to see her, or felt anything but great when we went on our separate ways.
One of my favorite yoga videos has an instructor quoting some great yoga leader throughout the various twists and poses. I can’t keep up with most of the stretches, but I have always remembered this quote. “You are either now here or you are nowhere.” I got lucky this past Monday. I relived a great memory of my grandparents, was excited about soon-exploding bags of fireworks, caught sight of some beautiful wild flowers and bumped into an old friend. It’s good to be here.
Lori Marble writes a weekly column for the Daily News.
