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On roses, fishing and a dedicated public servant

What a summer.

The Fourth of July has come and gone – how can that be possible? What happened to June, or better yet, to April and May?

Everything seems to be happening in super fast motion. Spring was eager to be summer – too-hot days earlier this year when flowers bloomed before their time – while the "dog days of summer" that are typical of August – closed out the month of June.

Somehow, the farm garden is surviving despite the wacky weather. In fact, you can almost say it’s flourishing. The tomato plants look great; peas and beans that were actually planted a bit late are loaded with blossoms; and some truly fine-looking beets are on the menue for dinner this evening – that’s pretty remarkable. At least it is for this gardener.

The "in town" garden is also doing well after a pretty rough start in April. We took advantage of the "too-warm" weather at that time, and transplanted a number of rose bushes – almost with a disastrous outcome. The digging and replanting was a breeze – no problem at all, especially since I was not the one on the end of the shovel. It was the 12-mile trip from Riley to St. Johns that was nearly a ‘rose killer.’

While I was very careful to make certain that the root ball for each plant had plenty of dirt and was situated in lots of water for the ride to their new home, I never considered what would happen to the tender, young new-growth leaves that were whipped around in the open bed of a truck.

My lovely rose bushes were dead – I was certain of it.

Fortunately, I was wrong – not for the first time, or the last, I’m sure. With more than a little TLC, and a boost from Mother Nature, the roses are in full bloom and seem to like their new home pretty well.

Of course, Wayne says the real reason that the roses survived and are flourishing is because the "Fishing Troll" is watching over them. I’ll buy that – makes no difference to me who gets credit for the fragrant blossoms.

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For the first time in I don’t know how many years, I missed the fireworks display in St. Johns. This is significant not just because I thoroughly enjoy the "big boomers," but also since the fireworks are a Rotary function – that means a responsibility to sell raffle tickets that fund the spectacular light show each year.

It’s 50 lashes with a wet noodle for me. I was a ticket-seller slacker, without a doubt. My good intentions of coming back to town to sell tickets on the night of the fireworks were sidetracked by another pretty important responsibility – watching a grandson catch his first "bluey gills."

That momentous event happened around mid-afternoon, July 3, near Lake Mitchell’s famous "Bullhead Hole." Caleb was an excited little boy, that’s for sure – and his dad was even more pleased with the fishing expedition. Naturally, Grandma Rhonda had to eat the fish (along with a few larger catches made by other fisherpersons) – creating a dilemma: satisfy the wishes of a grandson, or help fellow Rotarians.

Sorry guys – and Rotary gals – but the little, blue-eyed boy won that battle.

Some of the blame for my Rotary absence must also be shared by "Captain" Bob Dedyne. "Ahh… they can get along without you selling those tickets for one year, can’t they?" he said. Since he was the captain of the fishing vessel – and an almost new father-in-law as well – I decided it was best not be argue the point.

Thanks to Indy cohort, Jean Martin, I was still able to view the fireworks display via the terrific digital images that she captured – and we are sharing in this week’s issue. We hope you enjoy the Indy’s July Fourth photo album.

St. Johns fireworks album

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On a less pleasant note, we express our sympathy to the family of Tom O’Bryant who passed away July 1 at the much too-young age of 58. 

Tom served as the Clinton County Drain Commissioner for 12 years – a thankless job, to be sure, but one that he carried out with absolute professionalism.

Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to work with many individuals at the county level who help make and shape decisions about issues that impact all our lives. Tom was one of those people. He was a diligent public servant – although, not always the most popular. He was not afraid to make tough decisions – that’s an admirable quality that we all should try to emulate.