On Being a
Farm Wife
(and other hazard:
Joyce Bupp
A birdbath was never on my
backyard agenda.
Why would we need one?
Several ponds bless the mead
ow below the house, the first al
most within the proverbial “spit
ting distance” of the back porch.
Plus, a stream sparse at the
moment resurfaces just past
the ponds. So we have lots of
places for birds to bathe and
drink.
“Mom, you must get Grand
ma’s birdbath,” our daughter ad
monished me as our extended
family was winding down the in
tensive several-week cleanup of
my parents’ home. The old,
poured concrete birdbath which
sat in their terraced backyard
garden had never even entered
my mind. Along with my broth
ers, nephew and nieces, we had
been concentrating simply on
sorting through household
“stuff.”
Stuff. Our place has its share;
your’s may, too. Cleaning out a
parent or relative’s property can
convert one into an avowed disci
ple of getting rid of stuff. (Except
that probably won’t happen and
our kids will be lamenting in fu
ture years; “Where did they get
all this stuff?”).
Based on personal experience
and similar tales related by
friends, I’ve concluded that there
are three categories of things
which people accumulate in their
lives, beyond significant property
such as real-estate, investments,
vehicles, etc.
At the top range of personal
accumulations are “things.”
Things are those pieces which
have antique, historic, or serious
sentimental value to someone.
Old family photos and letters.
Special pieces of china or furni
ture or jewelry or collections or
things passed down through the
family. If only some clue had
been left as to who or why or
what their relevance is exactly.
At the other range is “junk.”
And that’s pretty much self-des
criptive. Not to forget that what
is junk to me, may be, things to
you. And vice-versa. Which
keeps antiquers, flea market, and
yard-sale enthusiasts busy.
Most everything else falls into
the category of “stuff.” Some of
the stuff from our parents house
has found a home here (hence the
boxes of stuff still upstairs). My
youngest brother has become the
keeper of a large trunk of stuff
and some things until some fu
ture date, when it may all become
junk to others a generation or
two down the DNA trail.
To some, the nondescript con
crete birdbath would have been
junk. None of us has a clue where
it came from, most likely one of
the public sales dad loved to at
tend, accumulating more junk.
The birdbath bore no sentimental
memories from our childhoods. It
was just an ornament in the
backyard of the home our par
ents had moved to after we had
all grown and moved away. Ex
cept when it rained, I don’t recall
ever seeing it filled with water.
But, for our household of bird
lovers and gardeners, the bird
bath did seemed a natural fit.
And no one else wanted it. The
Farmer, who moved it with nu
merous other pickup-truck loads
of things, stuff and junk, plunked
it into a then-barren bed outside
the east kitchen window, mostly
because it was a handy spot.
In recent weeks, tulips, hostas,
columbine, lilies and a nearby
small rhododendron bush pushed
up around the base of the bird
bath, leafed out, filled the bed
and begun blooming. When the
weather warmed, I began filling
it, dumping the water every few
days to clean and refresh it. The
morning I glanced out the win
dow to spy two robins vigorously
splashing in the shallow basin,
chasing off other wannabe bath
ers, cemented my sentiment that
the birdbath had come home.
Surrounded by greenery and
blossoms, our backyard birds ob
viously enjoying it as it was in
tended, the old concrete yard or
nament has been elevated from
stuff to a special family thing.
On this Memorial Day week
end, when our hearts remember
and prayerfully offer thanks for
those who gave their lives for us,
in many ways, and those we
loved and lost, many folks will
take flowers to graves.
And some of us will freshen
the water in a memorial birdbath.
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6:00 p.m. i : summedb) CD Exchange
Berks County Parks & Recreation Department
Berks County Heritage Center
1/2 mile south of Rte 222 exit for Rte 183-1 mile north of the Reading Regional Airport
Admission is FREE, $2 Parking Donation collected - For more info, call
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Lancaster Farming, Saturday, May 25, 2002-B3
COLLEGEVILLE (Montgom
ery Co.) Remember those deli
cious home-canned goods that
Grandma used to put up from
her backyard garden? Canning
procedures have changed dra
matically over the years, but
many folks still look forward to
eating the “fruits of their labor”
over the winter months with
home preserved foods.
To make sure you don’t en
danger your family’s health by
following out-of-date canning in
structions, Penn State Coopera
tive Extension is offering a
hands-on workshop to teach to
proper methods of home canning.
The three-hour session will be
conducted on Thursday, May 30
session A from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
and session B from 6 to 9 p.m. at
the Montgomery County 4-H
Center on Rt. 113 in Creamery.
Participants will leam the lat
est methods of using a boiling
water bath and a pressure can
ner. They will receive a compre
hensive Cooperative Extension
canning book and take home two
jars of properly processed fruits
and vegetables.
Registration is required and
class size is limited. There is a
cost of $2O per person. To regis
ter, call the extension office at
(610)489-4315
Home-Canning
Workshop