Clayton had purchased seven acres in Wellington
Township the previous year and had created a campsite down by the creek that
ran along the back of the property. As a consequence, there was no longer any
need for the family to visit the local campgrounds on the weekend. Beginning in
1975, almost every weekend was devoted to what they affectionately referred to
as “The Farm.”
2 At “The Farm,” they could pretend to live a simpler
life. Clayton purchased an old Farmall Cub and plowed up about a half-acre of
ground. Lonnie and Steven helped him plant a garden. There were pole beans,
bush beans, peas, corn, potatoes, onions, okra, leaf lettuce, tomatoes, peppers
and squash. In fact, by the time they got everything planted, it looked more
like a truck patch than a garden.
3 In the summertime, Clayton pumped water up out of
the creek to water the garden. Moreover, the sandy loam soil that extended to a
depth of almost three feet would grow almost anything. As a consequence, the
harvest was always prodigious and continuous.
4 Early in the season, Edna prepared “wilted” salads
by pouring hot bacon grease over the leaf lettuce and green onions which the
boys had harvested from the garden. Later on, Clayton and the boys would can
hundreds of quart jars of tomato juice and green beans and fill up a large
chest freezer with the other vegetables (and more green beans). They also
canned pickles (dill, sweet and bread & butter). And it usually continued
until the frost killed it.
5 It wasn’t all work, however. Lonnie loved to hike
through the woods and explore the flora and fauna of the surrounding woodlands.
Steven loved to fish and ride the dirt bike which Clayton had purchased for
them.
6 In fact, whenever they had a free moment, Lonnie
would coax Steven or the family dog to go on one of his extended hikes. He
purchased field guides for trees, wild flowers and edible plants. He would
gather specimens along the way and bring them home to identify them.
7 The woods did not disappoint him. They were full of
White and Red Oaks, Beech, Walnut, Poplar, Cherry, Willow, Elm, Ironwood,
Buckeye, Sassafras, Sweet Gum, Sugar Maples and Paw Paw. There was also an
abundance of wild flowers (Trillium, Bluebells, Hyacinths, Geraniums,
Touch-Me-Nots, Ironweed, Daisies, Snakeroot, Goldenrod, Asters, Queen Anne’s
Lace, Bergamot and Phlox). The understory also contained numerous kinds of
fungi, ferns, briars and Spicebush.
8 Thus, it was not too much of a stretch to suggest
that “The Farm” was the place where Lonnie acquired his love of nature. “I love
the woods,” he would often tell his grandparents. Eventually, Lonnie’s love of
the woodlands would prompt his grandfather to purchase the fifteen acres of
woods on the other side of the creek and transform “The Farm” into “Spicebush.”
9 In the meantime, the country celebrated its
Bicentennial in 1976. Two hundred years as a nation. Two hundred years since
the Declaration of Independence. The country and Lonnie’s family had survived
wars, depressions and scandals. Moreover, the nation was also engaged in
another election cycle which pitted Gerald Ford against a peanut farmer from
Georgia. So, yes, there was a great deal to celebrate that Fourth of July.
10 Lonnie, however, was not celebrating school. He was
an introvert and did not make friends easily. Thus, although his grades kept
him on the honor roll, he was eager to finish school and leave North Ridgeville
behind him.
11 “I have the credits, and I’d like to graduate
early,” Lonnie told his grandparents one day. “If you graduate early, we’ll
build a house and move to Wellington,” Clayton told him. “Are you sure you want
to do that?” Edna asked him. “Yes, I really think we’d all be happier on
Spicebush,” he told them.
12 “I’d have to switch schools,” Steven added. “Yeah,
but you make friends easily, and I don’t,” Lonnie reminded him. Steven shrugged
and walked away.
13 Thus, Lonnie informed the school’s administration
that he would be graduating early and arranged to take the courses necessary
for that to happen. And, true to his word, Clayton began construction on a new
house at Spicebush.
14 From that point forward, their weekend camping
trips were occupied with carpenter’s tools and lumber. Edna prepared the meals
while her boys worked on the house, and a new future for the family slowly
began to take shape in Wellington.
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