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I receive a lot of requests to share more about the awesome African American history in Washington. But I get a lot of requests to share some information about me, especially about what my favorite things are. So, this week I’d like to share with you some of my favorite things.

My house plants and trees are very special favorites. My Ficus Benjamina trees, Mary Lou and Madeline are my oldest house plants. Mary Lou is 41 years old, and Madeline is 40. They have moved several times with me from Philadelphia, PA to Burlington, NJ to Cary NC and finally to Washington NC. Madeline is nine feet tall and three inches taller than Mary Lou. Madeline is very finicky and demands her spot by the patio door in late fall and winter. She will drop her leaves if she doesn’t get that spot. Mary Lou could care less. She is happy in the library near a window that doesn’t get as much sun.

My next oldest house plant Cornelius, (a giant corn looking like plant) is 39 years old. Cornelius doesn’t like Milt. When we lived in Burlington, I kept Cornelius by a window next to the bed. I would talk to Cornelius every morning and tell it how I loved it and how beautiful it was. One day when we were moving to a new house, I asked Milt to bring the plant downstairs so Cornelius could be put on the moving van. Milt was in the process of moving Cornelius when I heard Milt say, “uh oh,” and looking in the bedroom, there lay 5-foot-tall Cornelius snapped in half. To this day, if it were possible, I think Cornelius gives Milt the ‘side eye’ when Milt waters it.

Julia, another very tall plant with shiny, long green leaves is 20 years old and Argentina, a six-foot rubber tree is also 20. The next oldest plant is Spider, and she is 16 years old. The rest of my many house plants are between five and 12 years old. Limey, my lime tree is six years old and is producing nice sized limes for us this summer.

My next favorite things are books. I have over a thousand, and there are bookshelves in everyone room of my house. Our library room alone has over 250 books in it.

Third on my list of favorite things is travelling. I love going on cruises. I love flying anywhere and I love riding trains. One of my all-time favorite train rides was from Greensboro NC to Houston TX via New Orleans. The ride took 2 1/2 days. The best part of that trip was riding through the rice fields of Texas. The train had an observation car with seats that faced large windows, and overhead was a glass roof. I wrote a children’s book on that ride as the rice fields really inspired me. I want my next train trip to be to the Grand Canyon.

So, these are a few of my favorite things. I’ll share more later. Thanks for reading my column!

Leesa Jones is a Washington native and the co-curator of the Washington Waterfront Underground Railroad Museum.