Julee Noted

I grew up in a large family in a small, rural town. Money was tight for our family of nine and my older siblings all had jobs, especially during the summer. My brothers worked on neighboring farms during the day and at night, they caught night crawlers (worms) by the hundreds. We lived near a popular fishing spot so we had a built in market for our live fishing bait! My job was to sell the worms during the day while my brothers were at work. We had a large sign at the bottom of driveway advertising the worms and on weekdays the fisherman would just drive up our long driveway, ring the doorbell, and I would get however many dozen worms they wanted to buy. On weekends, however, we made things easier for them. I sat next to the highway, under our “Nightcrawlers For Sale” sign with a cooler full of worms–a baker’s dozen of worms in cups full of peat moss– so all the fishermen had to do was pull off the side of the road for a couple of minutes, buy their worms, and be on their way. I did not like this job, in fact I despised it most of the time. It was hot. It was dry. It wasn’t fun. But, it did give me time to read! Reading was the silver lining to sitting by the side of the road for hours on end. It turned a drudgery into something I almost looked forward to! What has your experience been? Has reading ever been a silver lining in your life?

The other silver lining from my days of selling worms from my roadside kiosk was a life lesson from my mom. This particular July day I was more unhappy than usual about spending the next few hours sitting by the side of the road. I hauled all my gear–lawn chair, cooler full of worms, change jar, and, of course, my book–down to my spot at the bottom of the driveway. I had been there 30 minutes or so when a summer storm started to move in. The clouds gathered, darkened, and soon it began to rain. I quickly gathered up my things and ran back to the house. When I went inside, my mom was surprised to see me. She had not yet noticed the rain. She asked why I was back so soon and I informed her that it was raining and I could not be expected to sit outside selling worms in the rain! Her response has stuck with me these many years. She said, “You’re not sugar and you won’t melt.” She then gave me an umbrella and sent me back to my post! I was not amused. Since then, however, I have appreciated her perspective–one of resilience. She let me know that just like that summer rainstorm wouldn’t melt me, I could also withstand the storms of life. Thanks for the silver lining, Mom!

Continuing the silver linings theme, author Mary Kingswood has a Silver Linings mystery series which tells the story of the Brig Minerva, a ship sinking with almost no survivors and the impact and questions it leaves for their heirs and families. The Widow is the first book of the series.