Pretty Leaves But Stinky Fruit

Back in November, I received a letter from a gentleman I hadn’t heard from in at least a decade. Included in the envelope were a number of photographs he had taken and passed along.

Back in the days when we had our printing business, I wrote a weekly column called “Out & About” that was published in our advertising publication and sent free to residents of our home county. Harry was a regular reader of my column, and frequently sent me comments of his own, and always included a few pictures.

I shed a few tears over the letter, because it brought back a lot of memories. I can’t imagine anyone having a folder in which to save all of my columns, but that is what Harry has done.

He and I were especially fond of a row of Ginkgo Biloba trees that lined the street across from our shop, and never a year would go by without a picture or two of those beautiful Ginkgo tree leaves. The leaves of a Ginkgo are the brightest and prettiest yellow you can imagine. Plus, the leaves turn yellow practically simultaneously, seemingly going from green to yellow overnight.

To add to the beauty, the beautiful yellow leaves come down, usually with help from a bit of breeze to cover the sidewalk, curb and street with a magnificent coat of yellow.

If it wasn’t for my good friend, Harry, I would lack a lot of knowledge about Ginkgo Biloba, but he was a fountain of knowledge about Ginkgos and was more than happy to share.

One of my new pictures is of a Ginkgo tree, of course, but the leaves held some of their green and the tree had shed only a portion of its yellow leaves. I think “my” Ginkgos were the prettiest, ever.

That is not to say that Ginkgo Biloba is the world’s finest tree. Quite the contrary, all of that wonderful beauty comes with a fruity contribution that falls with the leaves, rots at its own convenience and smells more like dog poop than the smelliest of dog poop.

It is important to watch Ginkgo Biloba from a distance away, and to never attempt to stroll through those beautiful leaves when the fruit is down.

I can’t claim to have the wisdom of Harry, who is rightly proud of his 102 plus years, or the memory that goes with it, but I think I remember that there are female Ginkgos and male Ginkgos, and they don’t both bear stinky fruit.

The fruit, by the way, is not used in a medicinal way, leaving the leaves to produce all the healthful benefits ascribed to Ginkgo Biloba. I could use some of the Ginkgo goodness, because it is said to improve poor circulation, mental fuzziness, symptoms of Alzheimer's disease, memory loss, vertigo, and ringing in the ears. It also enhances circulation to brain, heart, limbs, ears & eyes.

Harry and wife, Blanche, are still dancing (despite his 102 years) and that is more than I can say for Donna and me.

Maybe I should have spent some time eating the Ginkgo leaves.

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George Wrote His Rules Of Civility Early On

February is the month for celebrating our country’s Presidents. And without doubt, the most noteworthy of these was number one, George Washington.

When we aren’t remembering him as our first President, we remember him as the Commander in Chief of the Revolutionary War. He truly was a remarkable man.

At the age of just 14, Washington wrote 110 rules of civility and decent behavior. Reading them, one is aware that most of them are just as applicable today as they were when written in the middle of the 1700s. A few examples follow.

Rule 1: Every action done in company ought to be done with some sign of respect to those that are present.

Rule 4: In the presence of others, sing not to yourself with a humming noise, nor drum with your fingers or feet.

Rule 5: If you cough, sneeze, sigh, or yawn, do it not loud but privately; and speak not in your yawning, but put your handkerchief or hand before your face and turn aside.

Rule 7: Put not off your clothes in the presence of others, nor go out of your chamber half dressed.

Rule 9: Spit not into the fire, nor stoop low before it, neither put your hands into the flames to warm them, nor set your feet upon the fire, especially if there be meat before it.

Rule 12: Shake not your head, feet, or legs, roll not the eyes, lift not one eyebrow higher than the other, wry not the mouth, and bedew no man’s face with your spittle by approaching too near him when you speak.

Rule 15: Keep your nails clean and short, also your hands and teeth clean, yet without showing any great concern for them.

Rule 35: Let your discourse with men of business be short and comprehensive.

Rule 38: In visiting the sick, do not presently play the physician if you be not knowing therein.

Rule 50: Be not hasty to believe flying reports to the disparagement of any.

Rule 71: Gaze not on the marks or blemishes of others and ask not how they came. What you may speak in secret to your friend deliver not before others.

Rule 73: Think before you speak, pronounce not imperfectly, or bring out your words too hastily, but orderly and distinctly.

Rule 82: Undertake not what you cannot perform but be careful to keep your promise.

Rule 101: Rinse not your mouth in the presence of others.

Rule 110: Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire called conscience.

Some of the rules are lengthy, and several of them refer to behavior proper at a time when social class distinctions were important. I’ll include just one example:

Rule 57: In walking up and down in a house, with only one in company, if he be greater than yourself, at the first give him the right hand and stop not till he does and be not the first that turns, and when you do let it be with your face toward him. If he be a man of great quality, walk not with him cheek by jowl but somewhat behind, but yet in such a manner that he may easily speak to you.

Altogether, these rules of civility are remarkable when one realizes they were written by a 14 year old!

 They are reprinted by several publishers. I especially enjoy By George!, Mr. Washing­ ton’s Guide to Civility Today, by Steven M. Selzer. Selzer includes a paragraph or two with each rule that shows application to modern life.

Donna Miller

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Marbles Enjoy Fun Names & Popularity

Numerous companies were once producing machine-made marbles, especially in the Ohio River Valley in West Virginia and Ohio. Most of them  are now out of business. (We visited one of these companies about three years ago; it was in its last week of production, having just lost a Wal-Mart contract to a company who would be producing the marbles in China.)

Over the years, the machine-made marbles acquired an interesting collection of names which described them. Some were given by the companies. Others were named by the children who used them. Collectors have added a few names to the mix, too. What they all have in common is that they are descriptive.

For example, one of the major marble producers was Marble King. Its black and yellow marbles are called bumblebees; its blue and yellow marbles are called cub scouts.

Clearies are transparent marbles, allowing light to pass through regardless of the color. Confetti marbles have small chips of colored glass on the surface of a base of a different color. Moonies are a white or pale blue translucent color. Frosted have a satinized finish. Carnival marbles have an iridized surface.

Patches have color on the surface of the marble. Swirls have - of course - swirls of color in a transparent base. Moss agates are translucent with an opaque patch of a contrasting color. Stripes have a thin band of color on a base of a different color.

See examples of all of these and more in Popular American Marbles, by Dean Six, Susie Metzler and Michael Johnson. It covers the major American companies making machine-made marbles,  tells a little about each of them and gives dozens of examples. It’s a very handy book for a marble collector. (Schiffer Publishing, 2007, ISBN 978-0-7643-2640-0, $14.95.)

Donna Miller

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