There’s a song extolling Ireland’s “forty shades of green” by Johnnie Cash. Look around us; doesn’t it seems like we have forty shades of green or more? Look very closely at the hillsides surrounding us. The grassy hills are a tender spring green, soon to be exchanged for a summer coat of tawny golden brown. But for now they’re that unique spring green.
The new leaves on the trees now budding out are a gentle soft green almost yellow-green and some of them are clothed in white and pink flowers. Mixed in with the new green are the greens of the more mature trees: mid-green, brownish green, even deep maroon with a green-black undertone. Many hades but all variants of green.
Behind, on the hills are the evergreen trees, mostly spruce or fir, but all shades of deep forest green. These trees stand sentinel, framing the valley hills. They hold everything together and provide a perfect picture frame.
Think about it. Aren’t we like the trees? We have the “old” timers in Timber Valley. They remember all that went into the earlier days of the park when members washed the windows and mopped the floors in the clubhouse. They are the evergreens, framing, holding the park together. Still standing strong.
The mid-greens have been here awhile. They volunteer, take part in things and rejoice in joining together. Some of them suffer from “burn-out”, trying to do more than their share.
Then we have the “newbies”. They’ve come into the park in the last couple of years and are still coming as older members leave. Some of them have jumped right in and are participating and helping out, some while still on the AWL. But there are others who say, “We’re retired. We didn’t come here to work. Let someone else do it.” Or words to that effect.
It takes all the forty shades of green to make our hillsides beautiful. It takes all our members, old, mid and new, to keep our park thriving and moving on into the future. Is it too much of a stretch to say: when all participate and do their share, our park will be more beautiful and worthwhile? We are the forty shades of green.
By Jackie Deal
We lost our beloved Timber Valley member, Sally Hunt. Sally passed on Monday evening, April 29. Sally and her husband, Jim came to Timber Valley on October 23, 2014. She was a kind, generous and compassionate woman with many talents including sewing, quilting, machine embroidery, crocheting, glass etching, and many, many different crafts. Sally was a much loved member of the Sit n Sew group where she shared many of her talents, Sally would help anyone and everyone. She was active as a member of the Welcome Committee’s Contributing Members. Many of you have welcome gifts made by Sally. She never met a person she could not talk to and make welcome. Countless moments of joy and happiness with Sally were shared by many of us in the park.
Yay …It’s May! Henrietta Hedgehog is sitting pretty in her window box with green-grass colored bows, a bluebird of Happiness and her friends, the butterflies. Warmer weather should be just around the corner. Remember to take in the little sign … Enjoy the Simple Things!
Thanks to Trudy Carron for the reminder to clean and maintain our hummingbird feeders.