Last night a small group met at Cindy and Dewayne's home to tour their gardens and meet all the critters that share their lives. Thanks to Maggie, Hayden and Shirley, for coming. Cindy spent a great deal of time this last very hot week getting the yard ready for visitors, and her hard work was much appreciated. Rosie--we hope you are doing okay and taking it easy, and we hold positive thoughts and prayers for Gene to have good news from the Doctor.
We first toured the yard, admiring the incredible deck and water feature, all the island beds populated with hosta from Cindy's former home, and her daylily collection; amassed from a gentleman in Galveston IN named Raymond and many that were gleaned from my gene pool experiments. The weather was warm, but the humidity had dropped and there was a light breeze that made things actually comfortable.
A short walk down the lane took us to the extraordinary Burr Oak tree, where Cindy told us the wonderful and spiritual story of how the tree set a series of events in motion that culminated in Dewayne and her coming to live there. And it's clear that this is the place that they were meant to call home. Under the mammoth canopy of this tree--which is the largest known of its species in St. Joe County and the third largest in the state--live the many animals that comprise Dewayne and Cindy's family. From Challenger, the handsome little calf who is being fostered while he recovers from an injury, to the mule, horses, ducks, chickens, cats, fish, squirrels, turkeys, baby opossum, and Greta the sweet big dog, the affection and kindness that Dewayne and Cindy show the animal kingdom is in evidence everywhere. Cindy's vast experience with wildlife rescue meant we got to see the baby opossum she is currently caring for. These unusual living fossils were busy and inquisitive, coming out to examine us as we in turn examined and exclaimed over them. All baby animals are cute--even opossums. The turkey poults that Cindy's broody hen raised after the eggs were found in a hayfield were also sweet--and the mama hen didn't seem to realize that her toddlers were nearly as big as she was.
Most touching of all were the numerous feral cats that Cindy has rescued over the years. These lucky kitties have their own house, complete with furniture and a fenced play area where they can relax and live their lives in comfort and safety. Many of these cats have handicaps and injuries and were rescued from situations of cruel neglect. Still many others (she estimates at least 300) have been captured, neutered and released.
Our last stop on the tour was their large L shaped pond, complete with ducks, busy and noisy as they raced ashore to have a snack of corn. Then onto the barn where Challenger came out with a little coaxing from Cindy. He is fast growing up to be a big, boistrous boy, having mastered the art of drinking milk from a bucket and gaining strength as he recovers from a head injury that rendered him unable to stand when he was first born. Now up and walking, he stood and watched us, trying out his voice with a series of soft "moos" and experimenting with the idea of butting Cindy with his head.
Then we retired to the house, where it was cooler, in the company of Cleo, the incredibly sweet 28 year old kitty, Leaps, the "piranha cat" and Greta, the lovely rescued dog. Surrounded by a beautiful collection of equine art, and in the presence of the coolest coffee table ever, we had a brief business meeting. There was no change in the treasury statistics, and no secretary's report. Cindy asked about making a trip (finally) to Lurie Gardens. Hayden agreed to talk to Ben and come up with a date that we can all head to Chicago and take a guided tour.
The bulk of the meeting consisted of a discussion about the future direction our club will go. It seems that the current model may not be exactly what everyone wants, so we need to start looking more carefully at what we are doing and why. When we have a better level of attendance at a meeting we will discuss this more in depth. But for the moment, the door has been opened.
As for upcoming events, we are still hoping to make a trip to the Quiet Corner in Churubusco and to the Defries Garden in New Paris. More on this later.
After a very enjoyable evening we heeded the call of the upcoming rainstorm and ran between the raindrops to our cars and headed home.
Many thanks to Cindy and Dewayne for allowing us to see the extraordinary place they call home. It is a garden of the spirit, for both people and animals, that most rare of environments--a true sanctuary.
