Semina is back at the desk in the living room, she is swinging around in the big desk chair thinking about Adam.
Her Mother took her to say goodby to her friend Adam. He cannot hear or speak but Semina has learned the language that he uses, it is called Sign Language. Semina is going to miss Adam they liked to play and to make pictures together. Adam goes to a special school, all the children there cannot hear or speak , they learn the Sign Language there. Semina is the only friend that Adam has that can hear and speak and the only friend he has outside of his special school. Semina thinks Adam will miss her, she smiles her sad smiles and promises that she will come back and visit, but she does not know how she will do this, because she has never been on the bus by herself. She will ask her Mother.
Semina goes back to her drawing, thinking happy thoughts now.
Next to her Grandfathers Carpentry Shop is a fence and inside that fence are chickens and a house for them where they sleep and make eggs. Semina’s Grandmother showed her how to gently put her hand under the chicken sitting on the egg and take the egg away. First time Semina did this she was very scared, but now she can do it all by herself. The chicken never hurts Semina, she just sits there making low clucking sounds. It is very soft and warm under the chicken, even the egg is warm.
Semina’s Father and Uncle own a big chicken house and sell eggs to stores in the city. One time Semina and her Mother went there to see the little chicks, that were just born. Mother sat down on the floor and opened her apron, with the embroidered daisies on it, and let the little chick come into it. Semina stood behind her Mother with her hand on her shoulder and smiled, as she looked down at the little yellow puffs and noticed that they were the same color, as the center of the daisies on Mother’s apron. Mother lifted one of the chicks up to Seminas face, it was so soft and warm, it makes Semina smile to think about this.
Semina went back to her drawing and drew a picture of the wash house, that is right next to the chicken coop. In the wash house is a big pot over an open fire. Mother, her Grandmother and some ladies that help wash the laundry, boil all the white things so that they will be very clean. Then there are basins very big ones that have cold water running into them from a hose, the water is blue because the blue stuff makes all the white things very white ~~ Semina always wondered about this, how can blue make things white?
From the wash house in a U shape is the rest of the fence that surrounds the houses and the gardens.
Right across from her Grandfathers Shop is a potato garden, vegetable garden and a rhubarb garden. All of the Grandchildren love rhubarb and we ask Grandfather if we can have some, he tells us that we can have some from the left side of the garden, that is where the greenish red rhubarb grows. Grandfather saves the rhubarb on the right side of the garden for the ladies of the house to make rhubarb puddings and jams, that rhubarb is red and very sweet. Semina likes the greenish red rhubarb, it is a little sour. It is fun to peal thin strings of the rhubarb skin one by one and to roll it and make little roses.
Sometimes when Semina is sitting, on the table by the window in Grandfather’s shop, she looks out at the gardens. She has her back to the shop and when it is very quiet in the shop, all you can hear is the sound whoosh, whoosh of wood being plained and ssssss ssssss of wood being sanded. These are good sounds.
Semina likes it when the potato blossoms come, her Grandfather’s potato blossoms are white because he grows white potatoes. When she looks out the window at all the blossoms they look like a very large white blanket. Sometimes in other places Semina has seen lavender potato blossoms, that means that there are red potatoes growing there. Semina likes white flowers, they are her favorite, that is why she likes her Grandfather’s white potato blossoms. Semina finished her drawing, now she will go and show it to her Mother.
Semina thinks that maybe her Father will be home, because this is the last night Semina and her Mother will sleep in this apartment. Tomorrow after dinner they will go to Grandmother and Grandfather’s house. Semina smiles a sad smile when she thinks about this.