busconews.com

by Bob Smith

Hi there.

I just suddenly realized that my last gardening column was written in July of 2011, and I stated that I was going to have some hospital time coming up.  Judy has said I was in a lot of pain, and needed the surgery on my back, but – naturally, I don’t remember having any pain back then – but now that my spine has been fused – requiring about a six month recovery time to get back to my full gardening health! I recommend to you that when spinal fusion is offered to you, you exhaust all other alternatives!   I was fused on August 23, I am now well into my third month of recovery, and I am still relying on my good friend, Kevin Pequinot, whom I hired while healthy, to help me keep up with my beloved gardening labors. I thank my lucky stars he hasn’t left my needy side, and I think I will be ready to get back to my own gardening next spring.

We have eaten the last of our beloved tomato sandwiches, we didn’t get too much garden produce canned this year, but we plan to do better in the gardening and canning area next year.  I was born in Pennsylvania, on the banks of the Susquehanna River, the son of a Scotch family farmer.  You may have read about floods on that and many other major rivers this year, and I feel like maybe Whitley County, Indiana, might be one of the more fortunate weather and climate areas in the United States.  I hope it continues to provide good farming and gardening weather.

I bought some Crocus bulbs last year, and asked that those of you who could, write a gardening letter to “The Editor”, of this paper, and that I would give some of those Crocuses to the writer selected.  The winner, selected by the Editor, is the Owner of Egolf’s Grocery Store, Bob Egolf, whom we consider an outstanding member of this Community.  Crocus bulbs, like other spring flowering bulbs, should be planted in the fall, - and since I not only can’t drive, but must even walk using a “walker”, and not never even bend over, and certainly not even kneel until about six months after my August 23 Spinal Fusion – Kevin will plant the Crocus bulbs between Bob Egolf’s Grocery Store, and Dr. Willyard’s Medical Office, and I hope their beautiful colorful blossoms will please you early next Spring.

Judy is doing all the work Kevin can’t get to, and I am very appreciative of their good efforts.  My fusion was done at Parkview Main Hospital, (without any memory of my first four days there).  I barely remember being driven from there to “The Oaks,” a Nursing Home and Rehabilitating Center just off Rt. 30 in Western Columbia City, a facility of Parkview Whitley Hospital.

I have spent much time in many hospitals, and I must tell you, sincerely, that the staff of “The Oaks” had the most dedicated staff of any hospital I have ever visited! !  I hope that many of you already know of the excellent care provided there, and if you don’t, I hope you take the time to just visit them, and enquire about their Rehabilitation and Nursing Home Care.  It might be just what you might need – someday in the future – and they might remember your interest.

I plan to take them a copy of this column, and thank them sincerely for their excellent care.  When I was discharged from the Marine Corps after World War II, and an extended hospital stay, I got married, sold life insurance in Arvada, Colorado, and was asked to run for the City Council.  I put a speaker on my car, and then cruised the town, saying, loudly, “We just won a war, so we could govern ourselves. You should register to vote, and then vote for the candidates you think should best govern our city.” I lost the election by 32 votes, but 45 of the people I knew, then called me to say, “I didn’t know it was going to be this close, or I would have registered and voted for you.”

I dislike the negative ads seen on TV from both political sides of our neighboring city, and I wish Churubusco High School had won their last football game! I am glad we live here, and I am proud of our farming neighbors, and our excellent weather, and I know next year will be an even more excellent gardening year.