Being of The Earth

And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.

That's me on the left and my Dad, Buddy Miller, on the right. His full given name was Francis James, whereby I acquired James and why he took to Buddy or Shorty quick as he could. Offered here in evidence, we were not big planters nor were we tied to the oil patch in spite of what you see in the background. This was shot with a Brownie box camera, I'm guessing 1952 or '53, in the backyard of the second house I remember, over on Elm Street.

I can't recall what we planted. Beans, no doubt; probably tomatoes. Gardening was simply planted in us. Both Mom and Dad were born to the farm, Dad up in Michigan and Mom here on Texas' Rolling Plains. They were of Tom Brokaw's Greatest Generation, making-do through the depression and enduring through wars and rumors of wars.

Mom is still with us, living on her own for the most part. Lord, she'll be 81 this month, my last living link to John Sanford Saunders, my CSA veteran great granddad. Dad died in 1996 after chasing his elusive dreams around the world. World War II and the U.S. Army Air Corp plucked him from the family farm in Michigan and deposited his skinny butt in a barracks at Sheppard Field, Texas.

Thankfully for me, beans weren't the only seeds he planted!