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.
Dogs
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.
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
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
Closing a Chapter
Yesterday Handsome Chef Boyfriend and I made our final run to Vermont's beautiful Upper Valley to collect the last of my things from the loft I called home for about a year and a half. It was a grind; there was still some heavy stuff he missed last week because he could not get to … Continue reading Closing a Chapter
Balance: Saturday Photo Essay
Winter stubbornly hangs on up here in these parts long after spring has sprung elsewhere. I'm getting used to it. I think a sure sign of that is worrying less about weather and lately thinking more about finding balance. Not to get all philosophical about it, but I really do try: work, play, food, exercise, … Continue reading Balance: Saturday Photo Essay
When It Rains…
...it pours Siberian Huskies. Yesterday Handsome Chef Boyfriend and I paid a visit to a couple he has called friends for a long time. They are dog mushers, among other things. It is no secret that I have been pining for dog companionship since I lost my canine friend in late January. Yesterday I got … Continue reading When It Rains…
Hole in My Heart
Obsessive, almost maniacal scrubbing: floors, clothing, blankets, furniture, my car, everything. For reasons I can't completely understand I have done this with unrelenting urgency for the past week and a half, save a couple of days when I pressed pause so I could be with HCB. Today I will close up the giant plastic tub … Continue reading Hole in My Heart
Knowing When
Not long ago during an afternoon break between job one and job two I sat in a quirky White River Junction coffee shop thinking about my Clarence-the-Canine, reflecting on images in my mind's eye of the unmistakable changes in his gait over the last few weeks. Then I did what you're not supposed to do: … Continue reading Knowing When
It takes all the running you can do…
...to keep in the same place.--Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland On a gorgeous summer morning several years ago my now-ex and I sat at a small sidewalk café in downtown Knoxville, our family’s Shiloh Shepherd Teddy Blue resting comfortably under the table. (A Shiloh, in case you wondered, is a giant breed with ties to the … Continue reading It takes all the running you can do…
Sycamore Stories 