scout verb | \'skau̇t\ – to explore an area to obtain information; noun – one sent to obtain information Saturday morning came early, bitterly cold and windy, but clear; we'd practically forgotten how the sun looked. We stood squinting and shivering in a nondescript outlet mall parking lot with many other hopeful families, waiting, waiting, waiting for … Continue reading Stranger in a Strange Land: A Brief Doggish Essay
Dogs
Licking Our Wounds: Hindsight, You Win.
I once had a dog who destroyed the back seat of my brand new car in under ten minutes, reducing it to softball-size pieces of upholstery foam; a friend was with me and the two of us had darted inside the grocery for a moment. The dog, a beautiful Siberian Husky gal named Chaika, was … Continue reading Licking Our Wounds: Hindsight, You Win.
Tail of the Dog, in Which Warden Prepares to Play the Wrong Piano Concerto
In 1999 the Portuguese virtuosa Maria Joao Pires famously sat at the piano with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam, conductor Riccardo Chailly at the podium, awaiting the first bar of the piano concerto she expected to play for this lunchtime concert. Imagine her surprise when the orchestra began playing a different piece of music—the Mozart Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor—instead … Continue reading Tail of the Dog, in Which Warden Prepares to Play the Wrong Piano Concerto
It Was a Dark and Stormy Night.
No, really. It was. Friday was a grey day, Friday afternoon brought wave after wave of gully washers to Southern Vermont and New Hampshire, and Friday night the heavens opened up and Zeus hurled mighty lightning bolts down upon us. Prediction: Handsome Chef Boyfriend will look over the top of his glasses when he reads … Continue reading It Was a Dark and Stormy Night.
It’s *good* to covet things.
One of the best presents ever, those pecans. My dear friend Bett sent them to us last Christmas; she said she gathered them from the bumper crop on the ground under two pecan trees near where her mama lives on Alabama’s Gulf Coast. I saved the tags and stuck them to the walls in my … Continue reading It’s *good* to covet things.
Sunday Photo Essay: New Skete Monastery, Spiritual Connections
There has been a German Shepherd-shaped hole in my heart since I lost my beloved Clarence-the-Canine to Degenerative Myelopathy in January of 2014; the intervening years have marked the longest dogless period in my adult life. Yesterday Handsome Chef Boyrfriend and I attended the annual pilgrimage at the New Skete monastery in nearby Cambridge, NY. The monks … Continue reading Sunday Photo Essay: New Skete Monastery, Spiritual Connections
Reflections: Loss, Life’s Frailty, & Gratitude
Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.—Groucho Marx Mind you, this is not too profound. After last weekend's disappointing discovery of the incipient decline of many, many of my books I am feeling better about them tonight. I'm lucky to live with somebody … Continue reading Reflections: Loss, Life’s Frailty, & Gratitude
Postscript Bedlam Farm: Sunday Photo Essay
Still experimenting with my new-old Nikon, still fooling around with free photo editing. I have a long way to go and the reality is I'll need to pay someone to teach me. The October Bedlam Farm open house happened on a weekend that could not have been more picturesque and photo-worthy. Revisiting these images, playing … Continue reading Postscript Bedlam Farm: Sunday Photo Essay
Creative Workshop Takeaways: Publish or Perish
Today I attended a creative workshop led by New York Times bestselling author Jon Katz at this really groovy yurt in Cambridge, NY. (By the way, yurt is the word of the day.) I attended sessions on writing, photography, and blogging. One thing Jon underscored in his writing and blogging sessions was the importance of producing … Continue reading Creative Workshop Takeaways: Publish or Perish
Bedlam Farm Takeaways: The Katz Effect
The spring open house at Bedlam Farm was a couple of weeks ago, Jon Katz and Maria Wulf’s generous semi-annual sharing of their farm and lifestyle with fans, animal lovers, other artisans, and curiosity seekers. I’ve been to three of these now, with gathering interest and meaning, and what I think you could fairly call … Continue reading Bedlam Farm Takeaways: The Katz Effect
Sycamore Stories 