The Widow's Cottage
by RC DeWinter
Title
The Widow's Cottage
Artist
RC DeWinter
Medium
Painting - Digital Oils-paintography
Description
Copyright 2015 RC deWinter ~ All Rights Reserved
The Widow's Garden
When you live in small town -
a village, really, of maybe three thousand souls -
there aren't many secrets.
You know why Mrs. Bullock has a black eye
and who was involved in that fight
down at the tavern Saturday night
and why Jim Carpenter's car
is parked so often in Mary Maberly's driveway.
One thing, though, that everybody wants to know
and doesn't is how the Widow gets her garden to grow.
It's a riot of blooms from early spring right into frost,
and sometimes a bit beyond.
The Widow - she's had so many names
nobody knows whether to call her
Mrs. McCall or Mrs. Dennis or Mrs. Vanetti
or what-all, so she's been just the Widow
for years -
is ancient; except for Mr. Sanderson,
she's the oldest person in Haverly.
She's had at least six or seven husbands
and nobody living can keep 'em straight
anymore, not even Mr. Sanderson;
'course he doesn't hardly know what day it is anyhow.
Behind her back some of the village wags
call her The Black Widow;
every one of her husbands has died,
most of 'em, except for Pete Vanetti -
I think he lasted a good seven or eight years -
not too long after the nuptials.
She's a pretty good cook and an even better baker,
so it can't be the food killing 'em off;
her pies and casseroles are always the first to sell
at church fairs and library fundraisers.
Anyhow, the Widow's got the prettiest garden in town.
She's never bothered with the Garden Club
or the Ancient Burying Ground Association;
she doesn't even put any of those flowers
on her dead husbands' graves.
She just keeps on with her own yard,
out there digging and weeding and planting
in all weather except hard into winter.
Many's the time she's been invited to share
the secret of her green thumb.
I wasn't even born then, but people still talk
about the time Annabelle Clark - and her dead these ten years -
got high-handed with the Widow about refusing
to join in the Garden Club seed exchange.
There was no cat fight; the Widow
just raked her eyes up and down and said,
"My garden's my business. Be off with you."
Annabelle - who always did run off at the mouth -
kept on until the Widow turned her back
and went into the house, but the next week
every one of Annabelle Clark's rosebushes
broke out with the blight, curled up yellow-brown and died.
After that the ladies left the Widow alone about her garden.
There was even talk about not letting her
participate in the fairs and fundraisers,
but her dishes brought in so much money they dropped that idea.
I did hear a story that a newcomer,
unschooled in the ways of the Widow,
caught her outside in the garden one day,
admired the flowers and asked
however did she get such a variety of things -
'cause a lot of what the Widow grows
is kind of tender for this climate -
to do so well in Haverly.
She later told the ladies the Widow's eyes bored into hers,
and she felt queer and strange, but all the Widow said was,
"That'd be tellin', wouldn't it?"
~ copyright 2015 RC deWinter
Reimagined and painted from an original photograph, November 2014, Sydney, Australia.
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Uploaded
July 26th, 2015
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Viewed 3,489 Times - Last Visitor from New York, NY on 03/26/2024 at 11:47 PM
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Comments (46)
Meg Shearer
Like stepping into a fairy tale! Marvelous architecture and garden and dramatic atmosphere! And I love the tale you tell! I suspect the fertilizer she's using is responsible for the lovely garden... l/f!
Cathy MONNIER
Beautiful texture and atmosphere in this work, Gina ! Love the colors of greens, a Fav !!
Christopher James
One of your peers nominated this image in the 1000 views Groups nominated images by your fellow artist in the Special Features #6 promotion discussion. Please visit and pass on the love to another artist.
Johanna Hurmerinta
Congratulations! Your creative art has been featured in the “Imagination-Artistry-Creativity” group. LF! You are welcome to archive this image in: Feature Archive & Thank You Thread
Christopher James
Congratulation.....your wonderful work has been featured in the 1000 Views on 1 Image Group l/f/p