June 5, 2025 The Beacon • 39
It’ s amazing what many memories a picture can stir up
This letter was originally typed on March 9 of this year, using a picture of the inside of a greenhouse as inspiration for a writing prompt for the April 7 Write-On Writers Guild meeting.
It’ s 2:38 a. m. Sunday morning, and I’ m thinkin’ about the smell of Percy’ s Rapid Shoe Repair on South Sixth Street. This is the day I get to write my submission for the Write-On Writers Guild’ s April 7 meeting.
Every April for the last 10 or so years, we have our ekphrastic writing exercise. Now that’ s a special word, isn’ t it? You can blame Sharon Mooney for it. She’ s the one who introduced us to writing a story from a picture.
For most of the time, we would meet in March, choose one picture and then everybody wrote from inspiration they got from the same picture. April was my favorite meeting, where we enjoyed hearing each other’ s takes on the same picture.
This year we already have four pictures from which to choose a subject. One is a puppy sittin’ on a dog bed. Lately, we always have one picture with a dog. That’ s because of Carole, who’ s a dog person extraordinaire. The second is a family of four sittin’ around a campfire, cookin’ marshmallows. That’ s because Glenn and I belong to the Coshocton Campers Club. The third is a threestory brick Victorian inn that was built in the 1860s, and the fourth is the inside of a greenhouse.
Right away I chose to write three greenhouse stories. When I awakened at 2:12 a. m., I decided on the order of my three stories. My third one would be about visiting Longfellow’ s Greenhouses & Garden Center in Manchester, Maine on the Puddledock Road. I just love that place and could spend hours there. You can surely find it on the internet. Many’ s the time I took Mum there and pushed her in the wheelchair, inside and outside. My final paragraph would be to tell you about the 4-by-6 colored photo they had on their bulletin board just inside the main entrance. It was a picture of KK, Mum’ s cat, sitting regally in a Longfellow’ s“ flat” box on a shelf beside the back door, with her big, fluffy tail hangin’ down over the edge of the cardboard box.
My second story would be Creapy McCreap, the heart of my essay. In Coshocton County we have the perfect setting for a Halloween experience like no other in the whole state— better than the old reformatory in“ Shawshank Redemption.” Glenn and I drive past it every May when we go to decorate Anna Brannigan’ s grave in the Mohawk Cemetery.
Our son-in-law Dan was startled by it when we took our family one Memorial Day weekend to decorate a few graves around the county. It gives me the willies to see it every year, and I’ m shivering now just thinking about this Coshocton County forgotten treasure: the former Wells Brothers Greenhouse, with the long sheets of torn plastic flappin’ in the breeze over the framework and the overgrown weeds. Don’ t go trespassin’
Is Your Office Taking Over Your Home?
We can help. on private property. Just drive by slowly and imagine the possibilities.
My first story would be about the thing to do in Coshocton County for many years on Mother’ s Day weekend: visit Kobel’ s Garden Center on state Route 751 in West Lafayette. Wasn’ t that fun? They had plants, shrubs, mulch, seeds, trees, all kinds of flowering things, free hot dogs, drinks and popcorn, and high school kids wearing green T-shirts ready to help you. I loved goin’ there.
That made my mind wander to house plants. Over the years I’ ve pitched many of them over the bank, saying I’ d paid my dues on them. You never did that, did you? After a funeral you get a planter or two. Eventually, it has to be divided, and then you have lots of plants. Ours don’ t bloom because we
live among the trees. One of our three houseplants is livin’ on borrowed time.
Finally, let’ s get to Percy. Do you remember driving in the alley between South Seventh Street and South Sixth Street? When you’ re leaving the library’ s first parking lot, turn right. Remember the big old brick house on the left whose front was Percy’ s Rapid Shoe Repair on South Sixth Street? Actually, it was Doc Furbush’ s, Glenn told me. That old brick house had big windows on the alley that were loaded with houseplants. I think it was Percy’ s mother who lived there and had all the houseplants. Which made me think about the smell of his shoe shop.
Was this a trip down memory lane or what? It’ s 4:42 a. m. I’ m hittin’ save and goin’ back to bed.
BANKRUPTCY
Visit our sales location in Newcastle right behind The Corn Crib
32367 US 36, NEW CASTLE
740-324-1725
BF-296105
Mitchell Marczewski
• Personal & Small Business
• Call for Free Publication“ The 10 Most Common Questions about Bankruptcy”
• Stop Creditor Harassment, Repossession, Garnishment and Sheriff Sales
• Save Your Home and Car
• Emergency Filing Available
We are a debt relief agency and help people file bankruptcy under the U. S. Bankruptcy Code.
Marczewski Law Offices 1020 Maple Ave., Zanesville( next to Dr. Adornetto) 740-453-8900 | www. zanesvillelawyer. com
BF-155848