Discovery Drafts

My daughter's 13th birthday celebration at home with her friends was Saturday, October 29. This was also the day of record autumn snowfall in Connecticut. Though my weather guru at the gas station near work in Waterbury told me it was coming, I shrugged and laughed and said, "See you Monday." Perhaps the laughter was the big mistake. This guy is always right about the weather and I had no doubt about the snow and the slipperiness it would bring this time of year. But I should not have laughed. Look what happened: From November 2, 2011 This old Casper looked as solemn as a prophet of doom after a few hours. He gave me a sad glance as I stepped out to get the beautiful pizzas that Elenni's delivered promptly at 6 p.m. despite our circumstances at the top of a steep hill where we were sitting in the dark. From November 2, 2011 Little did we know as my daughter and her ten best friends danced and laughed and talked (This word is inadequate to descr

From Wilmington I came across this rose at the New Hanover County Arboretum in Wilmington, North Carolina, earlier this year.  One of those yes moments, and then you walk on lightly.

From August 8, 2011 Like a bobber Linked to a baited hook I rise and sink on water That is home to hungry fish As the earth spins round And the sun stands still. One Single Impression

From August 2, 2011 Be faithful to that which exists nowhere but in yourself,  and thus make yourself indispensable. (Andre Gide) Skywatch Friday

From Jul 7, 2011 Wordless Wednesday

When the cattails grow whiskers, From October 22, 2011 I know the season of scaring crows and small children is upon us. From October 22, 2011 The junior docents at the Glebe House in Woodbury put their talents to work to draw customers to the living haunted history tour of the house and the local ancient graveyard.  Docents lead the unsuspecting on a walk through a haunted graveyard in which the junior docents pop up from their graves to tell the unsavory but very interesting history of our homely village. From October 22, 2011 I think the fellow above actually gave a presentation at last year's tour.  This silvery, bearded gent was in the room of the house where funerals took place.  He was very impatient with Woodburians who did not know their own history.  Perhaps his disgust in us got the best of him. From October 22, 2011 Despite his pedantic ways, we managed to laugh and to enjoy and to come back for another year of taking pictures of the kids' creative wor

From October 22, 2011 From October 22, 2011 From October 22, 2011 Walking along the Pomperaug River with my daughter and Clyde E. Doodle on Saturday, afternoon, these leaves on the water caught my eye. Have a beautiful Sunday! Today's Flowers

From October 22, 2011 If you've been to my blog, you've likely met Clyde, my daughter's Dachshund mix best friend, side-kick, bed-warmer, and most devoted admirer. Here you see him staring intently at her in the hopes of receiving a taste of Land O Lakes white American cheese. It's his favorite thing in the whole world after my daughter. Recently, Della and I were on a hike when we took this character off leash and lost contact with him for minutes that felt like hours. He is super-obedient to her until his inner wolf gets the best of him, and off he goes. The only syllable that returns him to the world of canine-human bliss is cheese. Today, when we had him out, he was off doing his doggy thing, but we got him to come back with that magic word, cheese.  No stress, no problem.  Got cheese, live well.

Walking into the wind That blows off an ocean cooling With the promise of winter And presses sea life to warmer water, I am pulled into some new form. I taste the salt and sand, Bow my head to the light, And listen. One Single Impression

From Jun 27, 2011 Similar to many others I have posted, this image of Topsail nonetheless is a different permutation.  In the distance, two people and two shrimpers. By learning to discover and value our ordinariness, we nurture a friendliness toward ourselves and the world that is the essence of a healthy soul. (Thomas Moore) Skywatch Friday

From October 16, 2011 From October 16, 2011 Wordless Wednesday

From October 16, 2011 Walking with my daughter in this beautiful, bucolic landscape, we came across what would seem from a distance to be a Japanese kite stuck in a tree. From October 16, 2011 Too bad for that kid, I thought.  Upon closer inspection, it would seem that whoever lost his kite had eaten too many lollipops before he set it aloft.  The thing was covered with flies and other forms of debris. From October 16, 2011 Upon even closer inspection, we found that the federal government left a laminated explanation of the purple thing.  It was attached to the rope attaching the thing to the tree.   "What is that purple thing hanging in the tree?" the sign asked.  Yes, the feds saw us coming.  And they were sure we could read.  How nice.  So we did.  We read the whole thing. From October 16, 2011 The government is hunting down the emerald ash borer and is setting traps for them everywhere.  Please read the message for yourself and be on the lookout for these p

Children's dreams take shape In squares of paper Folded and pressed, Unfolded, folded, And pressed again. So much effort in the doing And undoing And so much faith In the direction And silence That butterflies and swans, Flapping birds and cranes That will fly you from here to their world Live in children's hands Who will tell you all about them On the way home. One Single Impression

This time of year, there's a blend of flowers fading away for the year and flowers prevailing despite the frosts and fluctuations in temperature. Queen Anne's lace goes... From October 2, 2011 ...and comes again... From October 2, 2011 ...and keeps very good company. From October 2, 2011 Even the factory-grown beauties at the nursery follow the light and say summer even as the locals say sleep. From October 2, 2011 Today's Flowers

I love my mechanic.  He's honest.  He knows what he's doing.  He brings out my VW's inner Porsche without sending me to the poor house.  And he's prompt. There is nothing more to want from another human being.   Today, after a long four-day work week, Pete tackled the mystery of the on-again, off-again check-engine light that has been crying wolf for, oh, a while now. As it turns out, it has come on for different reasons over the years, and Pete has addressed every one of those reasons.  Today he had the choice of selling me an expensive part and the hours it would take to install it or trying a different strategy, based on another mechanic's experience of his sister-in-law's car whose check-engine light played the same catch-me-if-you-can games.  That other strategy was a 20-minute task. For next to no money and in next to no time, he solved the problem.   Sitting in a patio chair while he made the repair, I watched the traffic roll by in time with the aut

From August 3, 2011 If I have ever made any valuable discoveries, it has been owing more to patient attention, than to any other talent. (Isaac Newton) And Night Swimming . Skywatch Friday

From October 8, 2011 From October 8, 2011 Wordless Wednesday The ferns thrive despite the cold nights and the changing light, and I love them. The newts, on the other hand, are not faring so well. They burn up on the road during the day if they are not hit by traffic. On the weekends, I am the self-appointed newt chauffeur, carrying these little dudes to safety in the moistened palm of my hand. Maybe they heard from the tortoises on the street that on the weekends you are likely to catch air. All morning on Sunday I asked the newts why they need to cross the road. They told me to take my questions to the chicken.

"You move the furniture When you are ready for a big change. When the couch is not here but there, I know Change is coming," Said a friend once Long ago, And she was right. Looking for a new way to see things I change the angle from which I look: I shove the couch across the room When I am hungry for more and better and new Because here and now Won't satisfy. Years have passed Since my friend first made that observation, And I have discarded the couch And tossed everything else Into the bin. Adjusting to the echo Of complete emptiness, I am learning to hear in new ways (Where once I chose only to see), To stand up (because there is no couch) And to step forward. Claim me, life, As I would claim you.

Out of nosiness more than culinary interest, we stopped in at the Connecticut Garlic and Harvest Festival in Bethlehem, Connecticut, on Saturday. We were wondering how on earth a garlic festival could take up the vast acreage of the Bethlehem Fair Grounds. From October 8, 2011 But it did, and there was garlic everywhere--even in the ice cream. And the fried dough--where there were plenty of takers. My daughter actually tried the pumpkin garlic ice cream and pronounced it good, though she opted for good old confectioner's sugar on the dough. From October 8, 2011 The queen of the garlic fairies went about blessing one and all with her garlic wand.  No kind words would save this little fellow though.  I couldn't get away from his forlorn and somewhat accusing gaze.  I could look him straight on because I'm a purely corn fed farm girl.  From October 8, 2011 There was something for everyone there, including some tie-dyed, downright cherry fabrics at a booth

From October 8, 2011 One day last week when I stopped at the market for a few things for supper, I came across a gorgeous bouquet of roses, gerbera daisies, chrysanthemums, and berries. I decided to get them for my daughter just because she's a great girl. I don't want to take for granted she knows that just because I do. I also want to know I believe it, that I love her ,tha tshe is joy itself. Let us be grateful to people who make us happy: They are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.  (Marcel Proust) Today's Flowers

The river,  Alive With the driving energy  Of a hurricane And three weeks Of constant, heavy rain Called to the little dog And might have claimed him Were it not for a young girl Who turned  The one syllable of his name Into a song Sang it And ran the other way. One Single Impression

From October 7, 2011 After work Friday, I dropped my car at Pete's for an oil change and walked home. Along the way, this mailbox caught my eye. A neighbor's mailbox is a maternity ward at the moment, and a neighbor is looking out for the little lady and her brood by telling the mailman to hold off on delivery.  In fact, she's going into town for her mail rather than disturb mama mouse.

From July 26, 2011 Where else to go? Skywatch Friday

From October 2, 2011 Wordless Wednesday

Connecticut is a land of two seasons: the snow season and the monsoon season. One ends where the other begins. This year, we have had rains that have not merely fallen to the ground and found their own level. We have had, instead, a series of deluges that have consumed us and swept away the various levels that once made our landscape familiar. We live in a flood plain, and that's about it. Monsoon season has continued even as summer has moved on little cat feet into autumn. Our colors are slow in coming, though the fading light has shown some of Indian summer's beauty in a new way. I went for a walk early Sunday morning to get a look at some of this. From October 2, 2011 Here we have wild carrot emerging from the soft earth even as the blossoms that preceded it have closed into crunchy, brown knots. From October 2, 2011 Then we have good old butter-and-eggs back for a dew-laden encore. From October 2, 2011 These formerly fuzzy guys had that just-out-of-

From September 25, 2011 From September 25, 2011 The marigolds and gourds at March Farms in Bethlehem, Connecticut, were very beautiful last weekend.  Orange and green are my favorite colors--green because it is lush and cool and fresh and orange because it is all fire and heat and lingering. Today's Flowers