The Glory of Morning Glories

The top photo shows my mother sitting next to her father in the front yard of my grandparents' farmhouse during a family summer picnic. My mother is holding me. Behind my grandfather you can see the chicken coop and behind that, the barn. My grandfather was a farmer. 

When I was seven or eight years old, my family moved out to the country, right next to the farmhouse. By then, the farm had been sold. My grandparents lived on the other side of our new home with an aunt who never married. The farmhouse was occupied by another aunt plus an uncle and four cousins. On the other side of the house occupied by my grandparents and aunt who never married lived another related family, including an aunt, uncle and two cousins. Once we were all settled, the fun began.

Being kids we wandered all over the place including the backfields, the creek running behind the four houses, the barn, and the chicken coop which was eventually turned into our Clubhouse. By that time, there were no chickens living in it. So, our parents bought the remains of a one-room schoolhouse and put the desks, chalkboards and books inside the chicken coop. We spent hours in that coop. We played school. Sometimes with imaginary students. Other times with siblings and younger cousins. We played there all year long. Even in the winter despite the snow coming in because what windows there were either didn't fit the casings or were minus some glass. We did not care. We loved our Chicken Coop Clubhouse out in a field.

Because we loved it so, we did our best to take care of it. We varnished the wood floor. We hung curtains. And one spring, we planted Morning Glories underneath the window visible in the above photo. To our surprise and delight, Morning Glories grew right up that side of our clubhouse. I think we had chicken wire in front of the window and up those beautiful flowers climbed, adding color to that old chicken coop/clubhouse. We were so happy. Those Morning Glories were so beautiful.

Today I bought some packets of Morning Glory seeds. I'm going to plant them in a small area I am turning into a flower bed. Every time I go by them once they have climbed up an old trellis, I will be thinking of that Chicken Coop Clubhouse with love, so much love and lots of color because of those Morning Glories-those glorious Morning Glories.