Southern Indiana Living Magazine - Jan / Feb 2023

04.01.2023 Views
A Walk in the Garden with Bob Hill A Reflection on 80 Years Irecently hit 80 years old, an age that often begs the ancient question: “Are you bragging or complaining?” I have to go with “neither,” with “grateful” coming closest to the truth. Eighty is an age that brings a lot of personal history; born during WWII and around long enough to witness mac and cheese ice cream and idiots pouring milk into their Pepsis. I can remember milk being delivered to our crowded house in a horse-drawn wagon and now we get UPS and FedEx trucks delivering dinner and semi-automatic rifles. We lived in the horse-drawnwagon days in a tight neighborhood in Northern New Jersey maybe 25 miles from New York City and 100 yards from the Passaic River, which would catch on fire a few times from industrial waste. We predated all that, often swimming in the river on a stony beach about a 15-minute walk from the house. No lifeguards. I remember being so anxious to get to the nearby grade school I left home at about age 4, walked over and tried to enroll myself in kindergarten. It was a blue-collar neighborhood that would occasionally bleed a little red. The parents of my best friend had a cock-fighting ring in the bottom level of the barn where they lived, the birds kept in a series of coops along the edges. I remember being paid like 15 cents – big money for a kid in post-WWII – to feed the birds before I had any idea what they did for a living. I later did sneak into the cockfighting barn to watch, the fierce birds ripping at each other, feathers flying, with metal hooks attached to their already sharp claws. In general, only one bird walked away. And all that only about 75 years ago. I plan on going back for the first time this coming spring, thinking it’s all gotta be tight-knit subdivision now. Moving along, we moved from near New York to Sycamore, Illinois, population 5,000, in the Northern Illinois cornfields in 1951. It was a move that broke my heart because I had just made a Little League team in New Jersey and had no idea what was up with Illinois. As it turned out, Sycamore started Little League that year, 8 • Jan/Feb 2023 • Southern Indiana Living a game saver. Our trip from New Jersey to Sycamore took three days in a rented Oldsmobile, a sloping, sleek thing with more chrome than a 90-foot yacht. Four of us kids, our collie, Lassie, and the Old Man, were stuffed in the car as we traveled maybe 350 miles a day, mostly on two-lane highways. I still remember driving right through Pittsburgh, smokestacks belching, and staying in hotels, a luxury beyond our wildest dreams. Mom, then very pregnant with our youngest sister, Lauren, flew into Chicago, where we picked her up. Lots of airplanes there. I never thought much then about someday being 80. I made the Little League team, made new friends in school, went fishing a lot in the nearby Kishwaukee River, which never did catch on fire. But here 80 came – high school, college, married, our two kids, fun work, some world travel, park exploring, lots of gardening, back surgery, a new hip, our kids doing good, a fine marriage that’s lasted 60 years and then the 80th birthday. With lemon meringue pie created by that wonderful wife of 60 years. One kid, newly elected state representative in Michigan, called, as she always does, for the occasion. The other kid, who takes a lot of pictures for the Washington Post, and his wife, drove out from Silver Spring, Maryland, to surprise me. Boy, did they ever. So here was 80. Right on time. And what’s that like? Having no experience at it, I tend to joke that 80 is the new 80. It really is a chronological landmark to be enjoyed when and if possible. The only other birthday I can remember contemplating at all was my 35th. It was like more than one-third on the way to 100. I was two years at my newspaper job in Louisville and wondering what my next step would be, could be, should be. I soon figured out I didn’t want to go anywhere. The best move I never made. My 50th birthday was really special. That wonderful wife – and a few friends – gave me a totally surprise birthday party at the old Masterson’s restaurant in Louisville. I walked into a room filled with about 120 people. Basically my entire life stood up before me – family, friends, teammates and co-workers – and shouted “SUR- PRISSSEE.” Yes, I was. So, what’s it like to be 80, generally healthy, blessed, loved and appreciative for the way it’s all worked out so far? I tend to complain about things on occasion, but then I look around and tell myself to “stop it.” I still have things to do, getting back into more travel, shaping our 8 acres of flowers, trees and shrubs into more manageable shape. I have begun a whole new creative venture I can remember milk being delivered to our crowded house in a horse-drawn wagon and now we get UPS and FedEx trucks delivering dinner and semi-automatic rifles. writing children’s books – and stay tuned for those. The theme of those children’s stories is how do we help others, what can we do, what can I do, to give back to people and a place that has given so much to me. Some of that has been working with and writing about The Parklands of Floyds Fork, the Waterfront Botanical Gardens, the Paint Box Garden in Jeffersonville and, more recently, helping to preserve Payne Hollow in Trimble County, Kentucky. It’s the former home of Harlan and Anna Hubbard, who took a shanty boat down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers and then lived off the Kentucky land for 35 years. What’s next? Who knows. It is the one-day-at-a-time thing. One. Day. At. A. Time. And looking forward to it. • About the Author Former Courier-Journal columnist Bob Hill enjoys gardening, good fun, good friends and the life he and his wife, Janet.

Now there’s a new way to get around in Floyd County. A joint program of the Floyd County Commissioners and Blue River Services, Southern Indiana Transit System (SITS) now offers safe, reliable transportation for people in Floyd County, Monday through Friday, 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., including those with disabilities. Scheduling a trip is easy. Just call 800-654-5490. If you call after hours, leave a message and a call-back number. SITS drivers collect fares before departure, and can accept cash (exact change only) or checks payable to Blue River Services, Inc. (Credit cards can’t be accepted at this time.) RATES 0 - 10 miles $2 per way, per person 11 - 20 miles $3 per way, per person 20 + miles $4 per way, per person Personal Care Attendants may ride free to and from the same locations. All other companions must pay the full fare. SITS can take you to stores, the grocery, banks, hospitals, clinics, auto repair shops and other destinations. Families only pay for two individuals. Additional immediate family members ride free. For example, a parent with four children would only pay for themselves and one child. A joint program of your Floyd County Commissioners and Blue River Services. 800.654.5490 | www.brsinc.org Southern Indiana Living • Jan/Feb 2023 • 9

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