82-Larica<fer Fantiing, ‘§)fiuft)fcy l -ftaySl; iffl ”
On Being a
Farm Wife
(and other
hazards)
Joyce Bupp
They stand poised, like debu
tantes, to be introduced on stage to
an eager, waiting audience.
Graceful and lithe of limb, they
show the promise that will come
with maturity.
For months, the trees have
stood before us striped to their
skeletons, their inner, intricate
structures of trunk and limbs
exposed in bare silhouette against
the sky. But, even in their leafless
ctatf* tTPAG d/iH intAfoct tn tha latuf.
hoods to wildlife.
During their months of inner
exposure, our farmstead trees
yield up an inventoiy of the nests
they have concealed and shel
tered, homes for another genera
tion of hungry baby birds. The
nests range from the larger ones to
robins, perhaps tucked in the
crook of a heavier branch high up
in the maples, to a dainty, palm
sized one carefully tucked into the
middle of the pussywillow.
And we can always depend on
seeing, near the tip of at least one
of the old maples, a large, some
what messy-looking clump of
dried leaves into which a squirrel
will have been snuggling. While
the squirrel’s nests generally look
a bit scruffy, their success in keep
ing a pile of dried leaves together
at all, with the wind we have at 40
* feet above the ground, puts me in
awe of a .squirrel’s engineering
skills.
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Owner - Samuel P. StoKzfua
RO 3, Box 331
Pine Qrove. PA 17963
Of special satisfation to us was
discovering after last fall’s leaf
drop for the second consecu
tive year a nest of Northern
(Baltimore) Oriole. Each of the
tightly-woven, teardrop-shaped
nests has been fastened by the
oriole parents way, way out at the
very end of a slender limb on the
lower edge of the tree. Perhaps the
breeze can best rock their hatch-
Inigs to sleep that way.
suspended just 10 feet above
our heads as we mowed the back
yard The orioles have a standing
invitiation to go ova our heads in
such a manner at any time.
But now. May ushers in the
retuM of the! Wes, ’back fat thfcir '
annual summer reruns in full
blown leaf. Already they have
begun softening die dark, stark
ness of the winter woods with
delicate, pale color. And thc
spring wildflowers, which bloom
on the woodlot floor beneath,
make haste to bloom and set seed
pods before the thickening canopy
overhead completely shades out
their sunlight.
Our weeping willow at the pond
is one of the first, pushing hints of
slender foliage out the sides of the
tender, cascading branches for
which is is named. The devastat
ing ice storm of last spring badly
shredded some large portions of
this nearly 23-year-old tree.
That’s about the life spand for wil
lows anyway, in our experience.
But the return of foliage greatly
softens the effect of the loss of
several of the willow’s large
limbs, leaving it less awkward
looking. It’s the favorite tree of
the geese they like to “park” on
the grass beneath it on sunny sum-
nu>r fnnmirure , , -
greenery are the maples, first
sending out fluffy green “flow
ers,” followed by reddish-tinted
young leaves. Their extremely
thick growth around the house
provides our home’s no-cost ver
sion of summer air-conditioning
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Pali
BELLEVILLE
MILLER-LAKE INC.
717-935-2335
QUARRYVILLE
UNICORN FARM
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JOHN JONES
717-766-8582
MIFFLINTOWN
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717-463-2606
—but prevents anything fcljeffcHif ' in the adjoinig wooded
growing these, except for crab- housing development will nearly
grass and exceptionally tough disappear from view and the
weeds. barely-seen traffic on the inter-
Other hardwoods in the mea
dow fencerows and the woodlot
open foliage at varying times, with
the subtle color of the combined
blend changing almost daily.
Locusts and hickory and wild
cherry and oak. dogwoods,
swampmaplc, and sassafiass, and
sycamore each contribute their
own shading to the combined
“green” color of the woods. In the
space of about the first week of
May, each will lose its identity
within the woods as a riot of
leaves erupts, and from the dis
tance to the back porch, can be
seen as one massive canopy. Our
Dairy Maids,
Princesses Wanted
In Franklin County
CHAMBERSBURG (Franklin ducts. Contestants are
making preparations to crown a
new Franklin County Dairy Prin
cess. The 30th pageant will be held
at the Lighthouse Restaurant on
June 13 at 7 p.m.
The purpose of the program is to
promote milk and other dairy pro-
ORANGEVILLE HAGERSTOWN, MD
FRANKLIN D. HESS TRI-STATE FARM
FARM EQUIPMENT AUTOMATION
717-925-6939 301-416-7340
James E. Landis
717-786-4158
SHIPPENSBURG
WITHER EQUIPMENT
SERVICE
717-532-6139
state will visibly vanish behind the
lush leaf growth.
This modem, fast-paced, tech
nological society of ours hg|
become masterful at tearing domi
trees and replacing them with the
paved-over, roofed-over, built
over whatever. Unfortunately, we
haven’t yet figured out how to
instantly replace the benefits each
fallen tree contributed to our qual
ity of life. But it does help if we
each just plant one now and then.
So invest in your future oxygen
supply.
Plant a tree.
blanks are available from Franklin
County Dairy Promotion Commit
tee co-chairman Julia Meyers at
(717) 369-2209 or (717)
369-21 SS. Completed entry blanks
and photos must be submitted by
May 16.
WHITEFORD, MD
ENFIELD EQUIP.
410-838-0480
POUND, Wl
PATZ SALES, INC.
414-897-2251
DISTRICT MANAGER;
James Smith
717-485-9176