There is no glory in star or blossom till looked upon by a loving eye; There is no fragrance in April breezes till breathed with joy as they wander by. William Cullen Bryant The first week of April has presented us with a mix of warm sun, balmy temperatures, rain, and ice pellets. But theContinue reading “April 9, 2022, And another spectacular array of colors at sunrise”
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Welcome Spring 2022
By March, the worst of the winter would be over. The snow would thaw, the rivers begin to run and the world would wake into itself again.” ―Neil Gaiman We continue to have erratic weather here in Maine. Including giant blobs of snow falling along with sleet and rain. But it is clear that theContinue reading “Welcome Spring 2022”
Welcome Spring 2022
Daffodils, That come before the swallow dares, and take The winds of March with beauty. William Shakespeare (The Winter’s Tale) No, my daffodils are not blooming in Maine this week. But I couldn’t resist using this picture from an early group of blooms last year to herald the beginning of spring this year. It hasContinue reading “Welcome Spring 2022”
Happy March to all of you, and it’s almost spring!
March, master of winds, bright minstrel and marshal of storms that enkindle the season they smite. ― Algernon C Swinburne (March: An Ode) I was interested to come across this very long poem by Swinburne, an ode to the month of March. He is credited with being a master of lyrical imagery as we seeContinue reading “Happy March to all of you, and it’s almost spring!”
In March winter is holding back and spring is pulling forward. Something holds and something pulls inside of us too. – Jean Hersey
The start of a new month is always an inspiration to me. It asks me to rethink what I have been doing, to take a deep breath, and start again with perhaps a revised plan. I have been rethinking all the things I have volunteered to do, whether they bring me joy, are crucial toContinue reading “In March winter is holding back and spring is pulling forward. Something holds and something pulls inside of us too. – Jean Hersey”
Winter’s Back is Broken
This week in cooking Big Oatmeal Cookies (Lembas bread) This little recipe sat in my recipe file for years before I tried it, mostly because I had other oatmeal cookies that we liked and I never needed to try a new one. When I was deep in baking large quantities of things for a Farmer’sContinue reading “Winter’s Back is Broken”
Happy Valentine’s Day 2022
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 1 Corinthians 13:4-5: Today is the day for celebrating love if you can. There are times whenContinue reading “Happy Valentine’s Day 2022”
“There is always in February some one day, at least, when one smells the yet distant, but surely coming summer.”
— Gertrude Jekyll This week we had our Maine version of that day. If you didn’t look at the mixture of slush and snow and ice on the ground and only watched the sunrise, felt the warm breeze on your face as you walked along, you could almost picture, or at least almost hope thatContinue reading ““There is always in February some one day, at least, when one smells the yet distant, but surely coming summer.””
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
— Martin Luther King, Jr. February, the month of love, the month that the sun begins to reappear, the shortest month technically, though it often seems to go on forever. Welcome to February. We have survived two blizzards since last week’s newsletter. At last, we are getting what seems more like a Maine winter. IContinue reading ““Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.””
Winter dawn is the color of metal, the trees stiffen into place like burnt nerves.
—Sylvia Plath I think nerves are a good topic for this week. Because of things getting on them. Like the persistent below zero cold, the ice-covered driveway that forbids me to take more than take one ginger-step at a time, the sameness of the house and the company. I am craving interesting things and ifContinue reading “Winter dawn is the color of metal, the trees stiffen into place like burnt nerves.“
Jean Feldeisen 