ESTHER’S GARDEN; GARY’S FLOUNDER

By Linda Elissalde
The Gardens of Versailles, Royal Botanic Gardens and Monet’s Garden are very famous. There is also the lost Garden of Eden. I remember when all we girls wanted to read Frances Hodgson Burnett’s THE SECRET GARDEN. MGM made a black and white movie version in 1949 with only the secret garden in technicolor. Then there is Esther Sarabia’s garden. When you open the door to her garden, the scenery turns a true technicolor. Everything is brighter.

Esther Sarabia’s garden reminds me of that film moment. When she opens that door, you are overwhelmed with beauty. There is a charming gazebo in the center. She includes myriad types of specialized flora, wild flowers, trees and vegetables in a tableau of beauty. My niece, Melissa, and I were treated to a tour. Esther conveys the history of every plant. It is as if each were her child, and each is loved. Many plants have grown back after some terrible peninsula storms. Her joy in each one is spoken with a delight that is captured by her guests.

What about her husband, Gary? He is a, “Man for All Seasons”. Gary can fix anything and everything. Mr. Huebel was the first recipient of PERSON OF THE YEAR award presented by Bay Vue UMC. Gary is also the first one called when anything needs repairing at Bay Vue Methodist. He is definitely a man of many talents with large numbers of plaques to commemorate his fishing prowess.

Fried flounder is the favorite choice of Marcel and me. We really, really like a whole flounder fried by Stingaree Restaurant chef. The reason Melissa and I were able to view Esther’s fine garden was because we had gone by to pick up two (2) WHOLE flounder that Mr. Gary saved for Marcel and me to enjoy as part of a 25th wedding celebration. We took one to Stingaree on Sunday evening. It was perfectly fried. People stopped at our table to admire this fine specimen. We ate the top half on Sunday and the bottom half on Monday. YUM!

Esther and Gary are a multi-talented twosome. They are also fine folk who like to share. We are lucky and grateful to have visited ESTHER’S GARDEN and enjoyed GARY’S FLOUNDER!

Linda

I was born on February 14, 1941 into a family of writers. Schmuckers took pen in hand for thank you notes, news articles, lessons, plays, poetry, birthdays, eulogies, etc. Aquarius prediction in my diary stated, “Has some writing abilities, but too superficial to be important”. Thanks to all who accept my compositions anyway. I come from a family of writers.

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