My Aunt Viola died last Sunday. She was 83, and her death came after a long illness. What I want to note here is her amazing knowledge of the natural world. She was raised on a farm near Andreas, but unlike most Pennsylvania Dutch farmers of her age, she somehow acquired an interest in birds, insects, plants, and flowers. She kept a daily record of birds she saw, which flowers were blooming, and which berries were ripe.
When I wanted to know the name of a weed in the garden, I asked Aunt Viola. When I wanted to know what a bird call was, she knew. She provided me with raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, and sour cherries. (I will also mention rhubarb pies.) This spring, when I went back to pick blueberries at her house, she helped me pick. She was barely able to walk, but the pleasure she got from picking blueberries brought her out of the house.
She valued her family too much to ever live at Walden Pond for two years, but to me she seemed like a modern version of Henry David Thoreau. She was a model of how to live in harmony with nature. I wish I could be more like her.
Sounds to me like she was the kind of person who appreciated the environment. She must have been an environmentalist. We need more people like her.
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