Minerva Bullock’s garden is a “mirror of her mind”

Sweater weather!  Not only are these crisp mornings a delight but couple the geese honking overhead in their “V” formation with fall mums blooming everywhere and you have the perfect recipe for fall.

Today Around Davidson visits with some local businesses featuring fall plants. We also introduce you to Will Jones, Will Jones, Will Jones, and Will Jones.  Plus Jean Berg has some thoughts to share about the Number One.

WILL JONES TIMES FOUR

Just imagine standing at the corner of Lorimer and Pines Roads and calling Will Jones home for supper!  Not one would appear but four – who live within “shouting distance” of that very corner in our town. Thanks to Motria Procyk, another close neighbor, who put us onto this story idea. Around Davidson made some phone calls, found a time convenient to meet these busy youngsters and today introduces you to Will Jones x four!

Billy Jones (Will Jones IV) holds his camera shy son, Will Jones V, joined by Will Jones, son of Brink and Justin Jones (l) and Will Jones, son of Julia and Micheal Jones (r)

BILLY JONES and WILL JONES V

The oldest and the youngest Will Jones live right at the corner of Lorimer and Pine.  The dad is Will Jones IV better known to Davidson residents as Billy Jones, full time musician and teacher who owns Birdsnest Music Studio above the Needlecraft Center on Main Street in town.  Billy has lived in Davidson since 1999 and married Mary in 2005.  Mary works in IT for Davidson College.  Their son is Will Jones V, a student at the Davidson-Cornelius Child Development Center, who loves to play tennis and enjoys time on his swing, slide and “jeep.”

WILL JONES of VIRGINIA AVENUE

Seven year old Will Jones lives in the former Alden Bryant home on Virginia Avenue – just one house from Pine and Lorimer. Will is the son of Brink and Justin Jones, both of whom work for Wells Fargo. Will is a first grader at Davidson Elementary School and has a three year old sister, Emma.  This Will Jones is a sports enthusiast loving baseball, basketball and football.

WILL JONES of LORIMER ROAD

This Will Jones is eight years old and a third grader at Davidson Elementary School and enjoys seeing his siblings in the hallways there. Brother David Jones (6) is a first grader while sister Jasmine Jones (10) is a fifth grader. These youngsters are the children of Julia and Micheal Jones and live on Lorimer in the former Ghigo home. Mom Julia has worked for over six years at Davidson College as the Director for the Chidsey Center for Leadership Development. Dad Micheal works in Cornelius for Shared Resources.

Will Jones enjoys playing football and smiles when he mentions that science is his favorite subject in school. Regrettably the neighborhood will soon be short one Will Jones as this family is moving to Cornelius next month. Having lived in Davidson since 2006 in a college house, the family has decided it is time to move into their own home. The neighbors will just have to shout a lot louder for Will Jones in Cornelius to hear – but we are very glad we caught him while still in Davidson!

FALL BLOOMS

Dee Winge of Carolina Cones shows off mums, pumpkins, grasses and more

Carolina Cones and Garden Center

Something about bright pumpkin displays that make for wonderful “Kodak moments.” A first stop at Carolina Cones on North Main Street in Cornelius brought smiles from Dee Winge who has been managing the garden center for the past few decades. Come for ice cream and while you are enjoying the tasty treat, shop for mums, Pumpkins, grasses, herbs, containers and much more – always with good advice about care and planting.

Ace Hardware Garden Center Manager Dustin Ward has plants plus lots of Halloween decorations

Ace Hardware

Dustin Ward has been the Garden Center Manager at Ace Hardware on North Main Street in Cornelius since last February when he moved to Cornelius. Raised in the eastern part of North Carolina, Dustin has a Horticulture Degree from N.C. State University and is ready to help you with questions about pansies, mums, vegetable plants and more. Ace Hardware also has a plentiful supply of fall decorations including this ghoulish octopus with blinking light legs which Justin is holding. Stop by and say hello to this young man who is a new addition to Ace.

Minerva Bullock shows off just a few of specialty cacti and succulents for sale at her home.

Minerva Bullock

Commercial businesses may have more to offer but it is always fun to stop by Minerva Bullock’s home on Dogwood Lane in Davidson and visit her garden.  Minerva’s annual plant sale is going on right now. Just watch for the sign. Minerva and her daughter, Karen, are busy potting succulents and cacti for indoor pleasure over the long winter months. They also have jade in pots and hanging jade plants.

Minerva has the shovel ready and if you have a special spot in your garden, she can dig most anything in her yard ranging from Lily of the Valley to Leather Leaf Mahonia. She also has Lenten roses, liriope, crepe myrtles, red bud, and lilies to name just a few. Not letting anything go to waste, Minerva saves seed from many of her plants and has them available in “bank” envelopes for a quarter. In addition to seeing Minerva’s extensive garden, it is great fun to see her garden “ornaments.” You will be pleased you stopped.

Jean Berg

ONE IS A WHOLE NUMBER

Jean Berg is a familiar face in our town. This energetic resident of The Pines since 2008 makes the trek every morning to Summit Coffee for a “cup of Joe” and fellowship with friends and neighbors. In addition she is involved in many activities at The Pines, in our community and is a frequent traveler on “mission trips” to improve the plight of neighbors in Central America.

Tomorrow marks the first anniversary for Jean of the loss of her husband, Dick. Thus it seems most appropriate to publish this essay which Jean wrote some months ago. It seems that following Dick’s death, Jean took his wedding band to a jeweler asking that it be fused with her wedding ring so she could wear them as one piece of jewelry. Inscribed on Dick’s wedding band were the words, “Now we are one.” Pondering these four words for many years, Jean finally put her thoughts on paper and wrote the following essay she wants to share with others.

ONE IS A WHOLE NUMBER

As a child I was not distinguished by my arithmetic skills. We learned about numbers even, odd and whole – but it did not inspire. So, in my twenty second year, selecting a wedding ring for my fiancé, I thought on terms of romanticism…poetry, perhaps…but not mathematics. Visioning our future together, I had inscribed “Now We are One” into the simple gold band. My heart smiled.

Over time, I pondered over the words “now we are one.” How is it possible two can become one? Is one absorbed in another? Is one just lost or dropped off the face of the earth like a stone discarded into the sea to disappear forever? At the very least, it meant mathematically that something – or someone – is lost. Gone. The absorber has absorbed the absorbee. The consumee has become one with the consumer. And as I observed marriages over time I grew to understand that often the “he” in the equation absorbed the “she.” It was unsatisfactory as a marriage partnership and bad math. I began thinking more about One. All this led me to conclude that One is a Whole Number. One whole person complete unto itself (or unto herself). One person can sing and dance and hike and savor chocolate ice cream; one person can write and think and nurture children. One person can lead and teach and pay bills and travel the world. One is a Whole Number. Does that change with the exchange of gold bands? I hope not.

For many years I pastored a congregation in a small house of worship in Cozumel, Mexico. Every Sunday my husband and partner, Dick, helped place hymn books in the pew racks. I decided very early that we did measure them out by twos: two here, two there, always silently assuming the church was populated by couples. We were not. We were all mathematical combinations: singles, triples, couples. Unlike the animals that entered Noah’s legendary ark two by two, we were a refreshing mix of all mathematical combinations. Placing hymn books was a visible statement of faith. It was Life.

Now years have passed; over fifty six years since I stood at the jeweler’s glass case ordering a wedding ring engraved Now We are One. Now I am alone. And today I took his gold band into a jeweler and asked it to be sized and joined with the ring I received over half a century ago. Dick had my ring engraved, Until Forever. Forever came sooner than we had hoped and now I am one. I am a whole person. I am determined to live as a whole person. And life is Good.

By Jean Stewart Berg