The Big Old Green House

B"H

A Shelter For Us All

It was green. It was old because there was still a carriage in the carriage house and two stalls for horses.  And it was a shelter for us because my uncle loved us all so much.  

We felt that the house had secrets.  Special hidden staircases that allowed you to appear out of no where.  A jail in the basement and tunnels that led you out of the house to cellar doors three houses down by the big old oak tree.  The sub-basement had thousands of dusty, dirty old bottles filled with something.  Who knows what was in them?  And again, more tunnels in another direction.  Those tunnels met up with brick walls.  Here and there we saw playing cards on the ground with our flashlights.  Who would be nuts enough to play cards down here?  Exploring inside was much better than hide and seek outside.  But, Uncle's neighborhood was changing.  All the big old houses were being torn down and replaced with apartment buildings.  Where once only one family lived or by our time, one old, old woman lived, now twenty families lived.  All tunnels lead to brick walls.  And the carriage was gone replaced by a car.  

We stopped running the tunnels when Miss Penny died.  She always knew when we visited Uncle.  Lemonade and cookies sat ready for us when we magically appeared in her yard.  She lived in a big house.  It was also very old.  But, it was not mint green, rather, it was a stately beige with brown trim.  After lemonade and cookies we would skip back to Uncle's home to find Mommy and Daddy and the barbecue busy with our chicken and corn cob while Uncle worked on the mulberry pie.  The dogs barked joyous greetings to us because our sloppy and inefficient eating allowed them many chicken treats.  While we waited for the food I would plop myself into the hammock by the weeping cherry trees.  Swaying gently as the clouds sauntered past was the best meditation in now.  My big sister probably helped to set the table... bamboo place mats and assorted flatware, nothing ever matched.  I always fell asleep like that.  And Uncle always woke me gently when everyone was ready to eat.  

The peace of those moments guides me today. Thank you.  

Now, did I ever tell you about Uncle's attic?

(to be continued)