Discovery Drafts

I love North Carolina for a lot of reasons, but one of the primary reasons is the blue.  The sky is at once within reach and well beyond reach.  Ours is a tenable position; we can dream, and we can make our dreams real.   Skywatch Friday

Wordless Wednesday

We've been having exams at school, so my nights and my weekend have been taken up with grading papers.  Maeve has been keeping me company, though. The look in her eyes said all weekend, "Remember when we used to go outside to play?"  Outside, where the earth is claiming old barns... ...where big cloud and open roads invite us to wander and dream... ...where the vibrant colors say summer even in the heart of autumn. We played, but not enough.  She is a patient friend, thank goodness. Our World Tuesday

Sometimes there's more sunrise in the water than in the sky.  It's amazing. Skywatch Friday

Wordless Wednesday

On Friday night, we stepped into the Halloween season at the Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze at Van Cortlandt Manor in Croton-on-Hudson, New York.  The 5,000 pumpkins carved into flowers, butterflies, spiders, aliens, zombies, a spider web, a grandfather clock, and ghouls galore. The ghouls were pretty spectacular.  Frankenstein was pretty convincing. This guy doesn't play, I'm sure. This guy just wanted out, though his buddy in the background was dancing up a storm. These girls were doing their Halloween thing As the evening wore on. Our World Tuesday

These sunflowers were carved into pumpkins for The Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze in New York.  Where there are flowers, there are fruit.  Beautiful thing. Today's Flowers

Not everybody speaks Connecticut.  I learned that by leaving it and realizing through my changed perspective how much I love my native language.  By Connecticut, I mean plain talk that is reserved--plain talk prefers silence to saying something that could cause offense but will cause offense to prevent the danger of being misunderstood--if being understood is important enough to deserve the risk.  Boiled down:   you speak when you have to, and you're clear when you do.  This manner of being in most points south of here is considered blunt, direct, rude.  (I know this because I got myself in all kinds of trouble just for being myself and meaning no harm.)  We take that risk because we'd rather be rude than be misunderstood.  In this light, it's ultimately about being loved and respected, loving and respecting.  But we're not about explaining that; this truth should speak for itself--same as we speak for ourselves (when we absolutely have to). I'm talking about

Wordless Wednesday

The weekend took an unexpected course--which is to say my plans didn't go according to plan.  But the weekend went well.  I've been operating on the "it is what it is" principle, and it's working out.  Life is good, peaceful.  We ended up in New Haven, where I work.  We made our way to the top of East Rock and had a look at a decent piece of the Connecticut coast.  (That's my school behind my daughter in the bottom right of the frame.) We got a look at the Soldiers and Sailors Monument, which commemorates every New Havenite who served in every war from the first revolution to the second (we call it the Civil War). Notice how muscular this woman is.  The figures on this monument were mighty.  In their shadow, one shirtless man was walking on his hands in the grass.  Another was rapping and dancing.  A group of four sat in a circle checking messages.  A little boy and led his dad down a path with all the know-how of a kid who had been there o

At the 0:30 mark, you'll find out how many days passed before BP first attempted to stop the disaster—and failed.  At 1:50, you find out how the amount of oil in the Gulf compared to Exxon Valdez (spoiler alert: it's worse). At 2:32, you'll find out the minimum number of times BP failed to stop the leak before finally claiming success.  At 3:34, you'll find out how many tens of thousands of pounds an oil tar mat that was discovered on a Louisiana barrier island just this past summer weighed.

"If you are lucky enough to find a way of life you love, you have to find the courage to live it."   John Irving Making my way through A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving and read by actor Joe Barrett for the second time in a month, I heard Owen give this voice to John Wheelwright again.  As I listened, I thought, "That means waking up."  In every way.  The thought took my heart and mind back to my favorite place, and then I stepped into my other favorite place to start a day's work.   Wishing you the best. Skywatch Friday

Wordless Wednesday

After work on Friday, I took Adella and her friend apple-picking at March Farm in Bethlehem, Connecticut.  Though the day became muggy, by the time we made it to the top of the hill, the air was clear and cool. The orchard was short on the pick-your-own crowd, but the farm's apple pickers left evidence of their work in crates. After we got some apples, we had a look at the pumpkins to get one for Adella and one for our friends down in Danbury.  Dell picked some nice ones that will make good squirrel food as soon as they take their positions on front porches.  (Oh well!  We all have to eat...) The farm does a good job with its decorations.  They're good and they're fun, but they don't try to be Disneyland.   Back at the ranch, Maeve thought she'd see what a pumpkin tastes like.  She started from the top after she figured out the big orange dude wasn't going to bite back. Happy October! Our World Tuesday

Now a Macoun!  I love apple season for its fragrances, colors, and flavors.  Nothing like here and now when they are New England in October. Today's Flowers

This is the Sea These things you keep You'd better throw them away You wanna turn your back On your soulless days Once you were tethered And now you are free Once you were tethered Well now you are free That was the river This is the sea!... Skywatch Friday

Let Her Dance This is a wire dress that was part of an art installation in a shop window in Providence, RI, last summer. Wordless Wednesday