"Bootiful" Nauvoo

You may think I have misspelled the title of my post, but I challenge you to continue reading to find out why I have titled it as "Bootiful Nauvoo". There is quite a tradition here in Nauvoo this time of year, and we have had the privilege of being a part of it.

 It is amazing to me to think that this time next year we will be "home" in Virgin, Utah, in our new house. That boggles my mind, and quite frankly I am not ready to even think about it much. Nauvoo is our life right now, and we love it here and we love what we are doing.

Last Monday was the last day for watering in "Big Bertha". She has been retired for the winter--actually she will become a snow plow for the winter, and my husband may be one of the drivers. I can't say we will really miss her--five months of watering five days a week became a bit boring at times. We did become attached to some of our flower beds and beautiful pots though, and we always worried about them when someone else was watering for us, or when Sunday came and no one was taking care of them--although the Lord did help them make it through until Monday. We have had some significant frosts this last week and things began to droop and drop. My favorite elephant ears looked so sad yesterday hanging down low over the edges of the pots. They had been magnificent. So, here are some recent pictures of the gorgeous flower beds and pots adorning Old Nauvoo.

Dragon's Wing Begonias

Flowering Tobacco

Angel Trumpet

Angel Trumpet

 Next summer we will not be the watering crew. Someone else will have that responsibility. For the winter, we have been given new assignments. Starting today, Monday, I am assigned to work at Facilities Management (FM) three days a week and two days in the restored sites here in Old Nauvoo. I am looking forward to the change. During the winter bad weather, I will probably be working in the greenhouse--hopefully doing something other than washing and disinfecting pots. LeRoy will continue with FM full time. He will be mowing and gathering leaves for a LONG time and then pruning as long as the weather holds. Then he will be working with snow, ice removal as needed.

We have a great variety of fruit and nut trees here. The most unusual for us has been the Paw-Paw tree and fruit. The fruit is usually not found on the tree ripening as it should--the raccoons prefer it green, so when you do find some it will be on the ground and ripe. It is oblong, green, and soft. You slice it open to find about 5 fairly large, shiny, brown seeds. The flesh looks like a creamy pudding, and it can be scooped out with a spoon and eaten like a pudding. It is slightly sweet and very smooth--very interesting!

Paw-Paw fruit

The next fruit I had never seen and eaten is the persimmon. I had been told to make sure it was very ripe before eating it, so the first ones we picked up off the ground and they were tasty--not a great deal of flavor. The pioneers used them to make pudding. They contain tiny seeds, so it would take quite a bit of time to seed them. The next time I saw one on the tree, soft and ready to eat, I thought. I took a bite only to pucker up and could hardly talk because of the alum it contains. Lesson learned.

Persimmon

The American Chestnut trees here are prolific. They are beautiful, large trees with spiny, green fruit. Soon, as the nuts mature, the green pods split open and reveal usually two shiny, brown nuts, flat on one side. We have gathered a box full and are letting them mature in the basement so there will be more sugar in the nut meat. Then we will split the shell and roast them--probably then frying them in some butter for a nice, nutty flavor. Since we haven't done it yet, I will report next time how they tasted.

American Chestnut tree

American Chestnut

Down the block from us is a huge pecan tree. The pecans are small, but we have been gathering every time we walk past. The squirrels love them, so we have to be fast! Luckily, we brought our Texas pecan sheller with us.

The most unusual of the fruit we have seen is the Osage Orange. The early pioneers found the wood of the Osage Orange to be great for making fence posts, or anything they wanted to be more permanent and not decay. It is a very hard wood. In fact, it was so hard it would break saw blades.The fruit is about the size of a large orange and very dense and heavy. I would hate to get hit on the head by one when it falls. I do not know of a use for the fruit other than the old wives' tale that it might help deter spiders or bugs in your home. So, many of us are gathering them and putting them in our basements or in our closets. There are LOTS of spiders here!!

Osage Orange

One of the most noticeable trees here is the Black Walnut. What a mess they make, and the nuts are not easily edible. People come and gather them here by the truckloads. They take them across the river to Iowa to a place that will shell them and then they are shipped to Missouri where they are made into extract. They get $200 to $300 per truckload. I can remember my mother making a black walnut cake using English walnuts as the nut, but the black walnut extract for flavor. I am pretty sure it was scrumptious.

This Fall has been spectacular. It is really just now becoming its most vivid. I can't say it is any prettier than our beloved Yakima, though. We have taken many drives through the countryside and walks through the woods. Enjoy the pictures.

So, the tradition I was speaking of--"Bootiful Nauvoo" is of course a play on words. Years ago our horticulturist, Durrell, began the tradition of carving pumpkins every Halloween when he lived in Utah with his parents. Now the whole community of Nauvoo joins in the celebration of carving pumpkins--750 of them to be exact--and placing them all along the main road in downtown Nauvoo (about 3 city blocks both sides of the street). For two full days and into the evening many people signed up to help create the sight. Artists drew the faces and we were given great tools to use to follow the patterns and carve to our heart's content. Thousands of people came to enjoy the parade of our horse drawn carriage loaded with the "Nauvoo Crazy Band", the Ghostbuster vehicle, and a stubborn longhorn steer who finally had to be coaxed out of the parade. Kettle corn and hotdogs filled the town with good smells. Many children paraded in their costumes, and it wasn't even cold and miserable--it was just right. Everyone seemed to be having a great, safe time. Our one police office didn't have to calm any wild crowds--this is one marvelous place.

Kettle Korn Krew

Ghostbusters

 

Nauvoo Crazy Band

 

President and Sister Gilliland

It is really slowing down here in Nauvoo. There are less and less visitors each week, even though the weather is glorious. In the sites we keep busy by working on knitting projects, crochet projects, or humanitarian aid projects. We should pick up again for the holidays--we don't close for Thanksgiving or Christmas. LeRoy and I have been asked to help plan the Thanksgiving dinner. All missionaries,  both temple and site, are invited as well as their guests or families who might be here. We work in the sites until 2 pm, have dinner at 3pm, and then perform in "Rendezvous" that night if our cast is scheduled. There is not much rest here. And when we aren't doing those things, we manage to get together to eat dinner at a moment's notice, go across the river to eat dinner, or just play games. We are really a close knit group of many.

Tonight we had a dinner for a couple who are leaving who perform with us in our cast. All of us are concerned about leaving because the unity here is something we don't want to lose, and yet we know it will be lost. We all have a common bond of dedication to serving our Lord and exemplifying and teaching others the gospel of Jesus Christ. The real world is so far removed from those common goals. But, in less than 11 months we too will be saying "farewell Nauvoo".  But today we are going to live each moment to the fullest!!