Out of Your Gourd

Last weekend I was tracking the nuthatches as they flitted between my house and my elderly neighbor's yard. He walked out and told me to "C'mon out back, I have something that might make a good photo."

He opened the door to his little "greenhouse" and proudly displayed all these fantastic gourds that he had grown this year in his garden. He also grows "loofah" or "vegetable sponges" and had some hanging on his clothesline. He breaks the "loofah" by hand and washes and washes them until they are soft and pliable. His old hands must be very strong, and I thought about asking him if I could photograph them. But he is very private. He is also going deaf, so you are never sure if he understands what you say to him.


For a man in his mid 80's he is very active. He grows all his own vegetables and fruit. I see people stopping during the summer to buy tomatoes and raspberries. I am the lucky recipient of cucumbers and berries when he is harvesting. I have reciprocated by baking him something like a cobbler, but not often enough.


He does a lot of wood craft in his attic. He makes puzzles and Christmas Tree Ornaments and sends them to craft shows. When my grandchildren come to visit he often shares a little wooden toy with them.

Reluctantly, he has told a few stories about his World War II service as a Marine in the Pacific theater. He fought on Saipan.

This past year I've noticed that he has needed to rest more often. One of his daughters gave him a great lawn chair that can be adjusted to about any angle. That's where I see him when I come home from work, or look out in the middle of a Saturday afternoon.

The Mrs. died a few years ago after a valiant fight with cancer. Now he would be alone except for his faithful dog Allie and his huge garden. He doesn't want visitors because they put a kink in his routine. Traveling or visiting his family is not on the agenda either. He rides his bicycle to the store for staples or necessities and that's as far as he wants to go.

Some of the neighbors that don't know the old fellow very well think that he is "out of his gourd." That is a term we would use when we were kids to describe someone who wasn't completely in his right mind.

It is true that he is a very unique person. He is the product of a different era and lifestyle. But he isn't out of his Gourd.

And if the photograph is any evidence, you could say he has more gourd than the rest of us neighbors altogether.