Favorite Place

Snow Apple Tree

 As I thought about this week's challenge from Generations Cafe my mind wandered to the many beautiful sights I've seen in my 82 years. I've traveled in 47 states and a handful of foreign countries. I've seen the Grand Canyon, the Eiffel Tower, Stonehenge, Lake Louise, the North Woods of Wisconsin and the Sonoran Desert, oceans, rivers, bridges.... I could go on. However, in flipping through photos my eyes landed on this picture and my brain was flooded with memories.

I grew up on a 5 acre farmette on Orchard Avenue in Northern Illinois. There were a couple of old apple orchards nearby but on our property there was only this one apple tree...the Snow Apple tree. It's fruit was snowy white inside and deep pink on the outside. It made great applesauce but that's not why I loved it. Look at the tree! So great for climbing. 

My friends and I spent many hours in this tree. This is my Mom and me and the shadow of my Dad.  I always think of the song, Oh Little Playmate" when I think of this tree because I lived that song.


Oh Little Playmate, Come out and  play with me,

And bring your dollies three, climb up my apple tree,

Holler down my rain barrel, slide down my cellar door

And we'll be jolly friends forever more.

There are more favorite spots on this 5 acres. A creek ran through the middle of the property with two small springs of water bubbling up. I spent many afternoons on my tummy watching the water bubble and wondering how that could happen. At another spot I watched weeping willow trees grow from the sprigs my Dad cut from trees along the roadside in Zion. Decades later those trees are now part of a small community park that includes the creek. 

Over the years, after  my Dad died, my Mom parceled off sections of the land and sold it to family members. My Aunt Loretta and Uncle Tom got the plot with the Snow Apple tree...I could still climb it! I was given a half acre of the land that included the willow trees. As a young married woman I did not want to live in "a family compound" so I sold the property to help pay for land in another town. I don't regret that. I still have my fond memories of the special place where I grew up and the Snow Apple Tree.


Comments

  1. TaraMay 3, 2021 at 8:49 AM

    Thanks for the reminder of the great climbing tree we had in our yard. Your post brought back many memories.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Barb LaFaraMay 3, 2021 at 12:17 PM

    A very sweet photo, and I can see how it would create such a charming memory. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownMay 4, 2021 at 3:45 PM

    Thanks for your coment and memories it brought back. I have a picture of me at about 18 months perched in an apple tree with my Grandma holding on to me. It was in their yard on the farm. I have such wonderful memories of being with them on the farm.

    ReplyDelete
  4. UnknownMay 6, 2021 at 4:35 AM

    Your song brought back a lot of memories. My cousin and I used to sing that many years ago.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Military

Image
 This last weekend in May brings Memorial Day in honor of all those who served in the Military to defend our freedom and our right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. In my research of ancestors I've found many draft registration cards and listings of military assignments. I have found relatives who served in the War for Independence, the Civil War, WW1 and WW11, and Korea, Viet Nam and Desert Storm. I think all of these men, and one woman, survived the wars but were damaged in many ways for life. I think of my uncle Lester who enlisted in the Army at 17 and went off to fight in the bloody battles of Korea. The sights and sounds of battle never left him. He and my uncle Tom, who landed on the bloody beach of Normandy, probably had PTSD although we had no name for it then.  Grandpa Carl Quist enlisted in his early 40's with several children still at home. He was too old for active service so was assigned to ship repair in San Diego. It probably meant a steady paychec...
Read more

Mother's Day - Three Grandmas

Image
Three generations: Clockwise from  lower middle Amanda Caroline Mullins Lovell,  Myrtle May Lovell Lane and  Iva May Lane Quist This picture has always fascinated me. I wonder if it was Mother's Day in Iowa and someone collected these ladies for a formal picture.  Amanda Caroline Mullins Lovell , my 2nd Great Grandma,  was born in Terre Haute, IN in 1839. By 1859 she had moved to Hamilton where she married George Washington Lovell at age 16. George was a farmer and it appears their travels took them to Illinois, then Iowa with George working as a farm laborer. By 1860 they had 6 children.  In 1880 there are 6 teenage and adult children living at home on the farm. It's not clear if they owned the farm. Myrtle May was her 11th child.  No wonder Amanda looks crochety in this picture. Her husband had died in 1885.  The 1900 census shows her the head of household at age 63. She is a widow with one son, James, age 17 living at home. He was born when she...
Read more