Page 246 - Adobe Photoshop PDF

Chapter 29: Gardening

If I were remembered for anything by friends and neighbors it
will probably be for my gardening hobby. It seems to me the creation
of beauty should be one of the more important pursuits in life. As a boy
at 459 Pugsley Street, our next-door neighbor was Brother Baugh. He
was a retired railroad conductor. His wife had died some years before.
His daughter and son-in-law lived with him in his house. She took care
of his meals, washing, ironing, etc. He had been an English immigrant
and he had the true English love of gardening. Brother Baugh’s lifestyle
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started to work in the garden. At noon he had his lunch and a nap. In the
afternoon he worked in the garden until about 5 o’clock. On Saturdays
he went uptown to Porter-Walton seed store and then to a movie before
returning home. On Sunday he went to church. Brother Baugh created
a miniature English park, as it were, in his garden. There were patches
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erskroon tulips (red with yellow edge). He always had a bed of pansies.

As a small boy next door, I would go over to Brother Baugh’s to
watch him in his gardening. He was very kind to me and occasionally
gave me a rooted cutting of some plant, together with careful instruc-
tions of how to plant it in our garden. He taught me all the basics of gar-
dening. It was years later when I realized an agreement that he and my
Mother shared. When he had answered as many questions as he could
tolerate he would pick a bouquet of pansies and instruct me to take them
to my mother. This was the signal to my mother – enough questions
for today! My mother, by one means or another, diverted me to stay at
home – or at least away from the Baugh’s garden – for the remainder of
the day.
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den covering virtually the entire backyard. Our large family consumed
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