Another Tangent

My sister-in-law, Frances, asked if I remember when we took the kids grunion hunting. I remember it well, and if I took pictures, I haven't run across them as yet. For those that are reading this post and are not familiar with grunion, they are a fish that spawns on the shoreline on Southern California beaches. The grunion ride the waves into shore at high tide, lay their eggs and then catch the next wave out again. You are only allowed to catch them with your bare hands. They are good eating, but realistically, going grunion hunting is more an excuse to party on the beach. Prior to Betty and I getting married, we would go grunion hunting all the time. Oh!, Oh! I think I made a mistake with that last statement. We wouldn't go grunion hunting, we would go to the submarine races. Sorry, I got confused. I think I was remembering the submarine races and it clouded my mind.

Enough ancient history. Today, I want to clarify a misconception you might have formed from previous posts. In all of my previous posts about New York, I always showed the snow and cold, but I have to tell you, there were different times of the year when it was beautiful. When you live in a clime that truly has "four seasons" there is some spectacular sights. So today, I'm going to post pictures of our home in New York in the Spring/Summer seasons.

Front of house
Our house was what was called a typical center entry Colonial. When you entered, you encountered the stairs leading to the second floor; to the left was the living room; to the right was a small "powder room" and then the dining room. On the other side of the wall of the stairs was the family room with an open kitchen to the right. There was a deck off the family room accessed by sliding doors and a fireplace in the corner. Just off the kitchen was a pantry and a door leading to the garage. Upstairs there was four bedrooms and two baths. I think the negatives for Betty were the stairs as her MS progressed, and the cold.


Walkway to entrance
The walkway to the entrance of the house comes off the driveway. When we first moved into the house, there were low hedges on the streetside of the walkway, which needed removing, which, as you can see, I did.


Hostas
Prior to turning onto the stoop, I planted hostas. I have to say, hostas are one of my favorite perenials. They are varied in color and when they bloom, they are gorgeous. They're gorgeous even when not in bloom. They need a cold clime to grow, even though there are hostas that supposedly grow here in Florida.


Flowering Cherry Tree
This is what we saw every Spring when we looked out the front of the house. When this tree was in bloom, it was spctacular.


Back of house
this photo shows the back of the house with the deck and access to the garage. I planted a rose garden to the right of the deck.


Rose garden
No explaination needed.


Small garden in lawn.
We had a huge tree in this spot when we first moved into the house, but we had a windstorm after a heavy rain, and the tree blew down. After I cut it up, I still had a stump, so I planted a little garden, making the stump part of it. I think it came out pretty well. One thing about it, I had planted tulip and other early Spring bulbs in this garden, and along the base of the deck, and when there was still a little snow on the ground and these beautiful flowers were in bloom, you knew Spring was truly just around the corner. Be sure to notice, unlike the West Coast where the first thing people do is put up a privacy fence, there is no fences between properties.


Backyard from Deck
This is the view we had from our deck toward the back of our lot. Right at the treeline, was a small little creek that ran only in Spring as the snow melted. Behind that was a farmers field. He would grow field corn and every year, I would pick a couple of bushel of it so I could have them for the squirrels during the winter.

I've rambled enough. I hope that this may clarify a misconception you may have gleaned from previous posts. Granted, the lifestyle in New York is different form where we were reared, but every local has something to offer.