My mother said that spring babies were “better” babies, easier to care for, generally healthier, and good-natured, all because of the extended sunshine of summer days. My older sister was born in November and I was eventually told that the confines of winter weather, necessarily more cumbersome clothing, and too much attention had made life difficult for her and all those around her. As a result, she as did other winter babies, became self-centered. In other words, they were easily and usually spoiled. I tended to believe that and, for the most part, accepted it as generally true. Until, that is, I realized that my mother’s November baby, born to first-time parents, had been an only child for five years before my arrival, and my own February baby had three older brothers, all born in May or June.
Having only the one winter baby, I don’t have any way of knowing if another one would have been any different or would have affected the family dynamics differently, but I never saw any serious sibling rivalry.
When I think about it, I guess I can’t blame my big sister for resenting
my appearance in her Utopian existence. She spent her whole lifetime trying to make me feel second-rate, which, of course, had exactly the opposite effect. Birth order matters, we are told, but I think the timing between siblings may matter more.
Apples: For some reason, I always think of Jonathan Chapman at this time of year. You have probably heard the myth of Johnny Appleseed who supposedly traveled the Midwest strewing apple seeds randomly along roadsides and giving seeds to farmers and homesteaders. He could be described as a missionary nurseryman – a man determined to foster the establishment of apple orchards. He lived from the late eighteenth century until the mid-nineteenth and did not scatter apple seeds randomly across the countryside as the myth suggests and as I was told in my early school days. He bought the seeds from cider mills, cleaned them and sold them to farmers and others who wanted to start orchards.
He helped establish many commercial orchards – for a profit. He was a businessman, not the benevolent eccentric of the myth. He believed that, with enough apple trees, no one would ever have to go hungry, and his mission was to encourage others to work toward that goal. Morels: Right about now we should be finding those very special mushrooms, the morels that everybody called “sponge mushrooms” when I was a kid.
People who hunt them regularly have their own theories about the best places to find them, but I’ve found them in so many different and unexpected places that it almost leads me to believe there are different varieties that grow under different conditions.
They certainly don’t all look alike – some are pale tan, others dusky brown, some have large cells on their conical tops while others have tinier holes, some have merely slits.
The most significant differences seem to be the places they grow. I have found morels growing under just about every imaginable condition. They’ve magically appeared practically under my feet where I’d have sworn they hadn’t been a moment before. They have been found in abundance in sunny open fields and equally in damp, shady underbrush. I’ve seen them flourishing atop tree stumps, under evergreen trees and along horseback riding trails. I’ve hunted them on horseback and found that looking down from that height offers a good view when the grass has begun to grow longer.
One friend told me to look under the May-apples. (She told me to look there, but she didn’t say that I’d find any mushrooms.) I’ve never found them anywhere near those distinctive plants, but my friend may have been there before I was since we often hunted the same timber every spring. There are some things I’ve found to be consistent.
Mushrooms will not be found in areas where hogs have been pastured for several years. Hogs like mushrooms as much as we do and will root them out until they quit producing.
Young children, with their sharp eyes and nimble knees, are excellent spotters because they are close to the ground and like to be allowed to take part in adult activities. Take the kids along!