Wednesday April 15th, 2026

A few memories…

I groan every time I think back at how I pulled all of those bushes out before we even moved in on Friedel. I was on a mission back then and had no appreciation for plants.

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I remember you coming over to help my dad hack back that overgrown rhododendron in front of the house when I was maybe ten or twelve. I was in awe by how much you got done and then shocked when you said that the stump you left would grow back. It did. 

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A year or so after grandma died, out front of your current house, you showed me how she would break the tips off after the flower show was over. I didn’t really understand why at the time…but with time and my attention I do now.

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Abby & Tony still own Gator Creek in Carson. I was just there on Saturday picking up some soil. They have a beautiful humongous rhododendron out front of their store. It’s amazing to stand under and understand how big these things can get. A few years ago I asked Abby about it. She told me how long it had been there, though I can’t remember right now. She said that her kids grew up swinging from its branches. I like to picture that whenever I see that tree.

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I went to Detroit Lake with Ty and his son Silas, maybe four years ago. Before the wildfires there, so maybe six or seven years. We rented a pontoon boat and I captained while they fished. One day we went up in the mountains and did a short hike on a ledge above a lake. It got too thick for us so we turned back but not before walking through a grove of native rhododendrons in full bloom. They were enormous but dwarfed by the fir forest. That was the first and last time I saw them living in their own home.