Stepping Around Rochester

This is a picture of my most treasured garden flowers. No, they’re not the prettiest flower in my garden, although  usually there are more blossoms than this. But they’re definitely the most treasured, because they came from my mother’s yard. And they didn’t come directly from my mother’s yard; they came to my garden by way of my first house in Webster and my second house in Walworth. In other words, they’ve been traveling with me for quite a while.

Notice that I didn’t say they came from my mother’s garden. That’s because my mother didn’t garden. These flowers just seemed to come up. I don’t even know what they’re called. My mother called them wild geraniums, but my mother’s names for things was as loose as her gardening. The best thing about these flowers is that they are indestructible, which probably makes them weeds. I remember one year when Mom had the driveway paved, and I thought they were gone for good. The contractor had paved right over the top of them. But they were back the next year as saucy as ever.

Now I’ve divided the flowers and passed them on to my daughters for their gardens. They don’t mean as much to them as they do to me, but that’s OK. I’m just happy that they have them.

We all find our own things to treasure. What’s your?

So what if the lilacs aren’t so good this year? Bring your own purple, and go to Highland Park anyway.

The crafts, music and food are all as good as usual, and the azaleas, the rhododendrons, and the pansy bed are all outstanding this year. Maybe it’s time that some of the bit players in Highland Park took their turn on stage.

My daughters are in their 30′s now, but when I heard a child call out “Mom” today in Wegmans, I automatically turned to look.

Does motherhood ever end? I don’t think so. My mother’s been gone 15 years now, but I still hear her voice saying “Keep on the

Marion McCaw Valentine

straight and narrow.” I still feel her watching my back as I walked to the corner store by myself. I still see her face lit up when I stopped unexpectedly to visit.

No. Motherhood never ends, and thank God for that.

I think we all get annoyed by the number of signs littering our landscape. Signs seems to be a necessary evil in today’s society, and sometimes they are actually helpful when we’re trying to find a location. The problem is that many signs outlive their usefulness. People seem to love putting up signs but not taking them down.

For example, look at this sign in the town of Walworth.

It’s advertising a pizza parlor that hasn’t been in Walworth for at least 10 years. Look at how the red is faded and the phone number illegible. Where are the sign police when you need them?

Another big offender with signs is the politician. It isn’t bad enough that we have to listen to political speeches for months leading up to elections, but most of the signs linger long after the first Tuesday in November.

Then there are the signs that announce that you are entering a particular school district or watershed. Does someone just driving by really need to know that?

I’m thinking of posting a sign on my street. “Post NO signs here.”

A week ago I was accumulating feel good moments. This week I seem to be accumulating pet peeves.

When I’m out walking, my pet peeve is bicyclists who come up behind me without announcing their presence. Sometimes I can hear them coming; sometimes I can’t. I try to keep to the right, but that’s not always possible on a narrow trail. So far I’ve just been startled and not run over, and I hope that’s always the case. Maybe if I got a little “Don’t Tread on Me” flag and stuck it in my back pocket…

Today’s Feel Good Moment was similar to yesterday’s, but instead of driving my car, I was piloting a grocery cart. When I was done with my shopping and ready to check-out, I came barreling down the cereal aisle, and there directly in front of me was a check-out with no one in line. I thought it was a mirage. It wasn’t as if the store had no one in it. The parking lot was full. I couldn’t believe my good luck, and that became Feel Good Moment #5.

Have you ever driven into a ramp garage and found that the very first spot past the ticket machine was available to park in? I hadn’t either – at least not until today. I was downtown, parking in the South Ave. garage, and there it was – the prime parking spot just waiting for me.

My brother tried to burst my bubble by telling me that most people want to park on the 2nd or 3rd floor in order walk across the bridge into the Convention Center, but I don’t buy it. Besides, we weren’t going into the Convention Center, just walking out to the street. And the first floor was full of cars in every space except that first one. Who listens to their brother anyway? For me it was Feel Good Moment #4.

I seem to be on a roll, so I’m going to see if I can find a feel good moment every day this week.

Today I was having lunch at La Bella Vita restaurant on Empire Blvd. with some friends when I ran into two old friends that I hadn’t seen in a long time. It made my day. I think the fact that I wasn’t expecting to see them and was taken by surprise was what made it my Feel Good Moment #3.

By the way, La Bella Vita has great Italian food. Everything is fresh and homemade, and they have a wood fire for pizza. Check it out.

I had another feel good moment this morning totally unrelated to my grandson. I’m talking about the feeling you get when you walk out the door of the gym, especially if it’s early in the morning. A total 360 degree turn around from the way you feel when you enter the gym.

Now admit it. Don’t you feel just the least little bit superior to all the other drivers you pass on your way home from the gym, knowing that even if don’t accomplish another thing all day, you’ve already done something?

So, now that I’ve been to the gym and even written about it, I think I’ll go back to bed.