Walking Walden Pond

Walden Pond -June 2014


"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived." -Henry David Thoreau

It was a bit anti-climatic to finally go to Walden Pond, and yet I felt the same enchantment that Thoreau experienced in his day as I took a walk around the whole pond. I wondered what he would have thought if he could see it now; college students squealing as their bikini-clad bodies hit the cool water, families picnicking on the shore, ropes and signs directing walkers away from the deadly deer ticks, and the gift shop filled with memorabilia made in China.

Still, the pond itself was lovely, and the water was still clear and cool. The woods were inaccessible in places- unlike the free space that Thoreau enjoyed. I tried to imagine him tromping this path in the pitch dark after a night in the town at the pub, and shuddered at the coldness he must have endured in the winter. I saw the replica of the tiny cabin he called home, and tried to think where all my books and trinkets would fit if I had to live in a space so small. I walked the narrow sectioned off path around the pond and thought about simplicity and living a deliberate life. The drive from Maine to Walden Pond was anything but idyllic-there was traffic and construction, and noise, and yet, once I was actually there, I could see why Thoreau loved the place enough to write a book about it. I was able for a moment in time to actually walk the same path he did, and I was able to think about how quiet and dark the nights must have been. It was a time-travel experience that I can re-live when I need to feel simplicity. freedom, and solitude.

Thanks Giving

" A shaft of sunlight at the end of a dark afternoon, a note of music, and the way the back of a baby’s neck smells if it’s mother keeps it tidy,” answered Henry.
“Correct,” said Stuart. “Those are the important things. You forgot one thing, though. Mary Bendix, what did Henry Rackmeyer forget?”
“He forgot ice cream with chocolate sauce on it,” said Mary quickly.”  
-E.B. White, From Stuart Little

 Thanksgiving -a time to reflect on what there is to be thankful for.
For me, it is the little things- and especially the important things.
I am grateful for a shaft of sunlight at the end of a dark afternoon.
I am truly thankful for many of the notes in music I have heard over the years.
And, oh yes-that sweet smell of a clean baby.
 And ice cream-gelato precisely!

This year I earned much less than in years past. -probably the year of my lowest earnings since my teen years, and yet, I am eternally grateful for provision. It has been a tough year job-wise, and yet I have never gone hungry, been homeless, or gone without anything that was important. It has been truly amazing So, I am grateful this Thanksgiving for health and answered prayer and the songs of a child. I taught a three-year old the song with the words-  "pick yourself up, and dust yourself off, and start all over again!" and she sings it all the time now. To me! When I need to hear it most. All things to be grateful for.

Vanishing Point

“How can I tell what I think until I see what I say?”
― David Markson, Vanishing Point    


Once again, we hit the road heading West
to escape the harshness of winter.
Leaving home was especially emotional this year-
more uncertainty than usual.
This year, all I know is that
there is a wedding we must attend in Las Vegas.

 After that, anything can happen.
Job offers are scarce this year,
 but we have always managed to survive winters past.
 I am certain that this year will be no exception.

Leaving behind a cozy home 
is freeing and uncomfortable
all at once.

Always a challenge to bring the right things
and leave the unnecessary behind.
Spending 4-6 months on the run
from Old Man Winter
can seem like an adventure,
and somehow we have always managed to outsmart him.

Aging makes me realize that each year I
have to try harder to adapt and dance and smile and
live in the moment.

But I do adapt and dance and smile and live in the moment-
because this moment is the what I have
and all that is certain.

Maine June

 

                     Magnificent bloom-the way the light flows through translucent petals

 

 

                               Lupines and wildflower

 

 

 

And lilacs in a green vase reflected on my grandmother's mirrored table .

 

 

 

 

March

New pink buds appear on the peach tree.

The fragrance from the lemon tree is sweet and pungent at the same time.

Wind lovingly messes the hair of the palm in front of deep blue.

Pale blue  against green in several hues.

Plants set outside adjust to the outdoor temperatures and respond cheerfully.

"It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold:When it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade."

-Charles Dickens

This is March and soon Spring will replace winter. That always make me happy because try as I might, I really don't like winter. 

Soon, I will experience the East Coast version of Spring. But for now, I will bask in the warmth and enjoy the subtle changes of this most lovely slight rotation of the Earth's axis.

"Every day that is born into the world comes like a burst
of music and rings the whole day through, and you will make of it a dance, a dirge, or a life march, as you will"
-Thomas Carlyle

"The day is ending,
The night is descending;
The marsh is frozen,
The river dead.

Through clouds like ashes
The red sun flashes
On village windows
That glimmer red."
-  Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Afternoon in February 

February is a melancholy month. A time when winter grips hard and doesn't want to let go. Snow and slush and cold and wind and illness and travel that is difficult and it all is the same every February. I want to hibernate like a bear and only come out when the winds die down and the sun shines warm and the small white flowers show sweet promise.

But life goes on and life requires motion-even in February! So I push through and get up and move and strip the bed and throw the blankets and sheets into the washer so I can't just crawl back in and waste away my day. Each day that I move-even a little- I am moving closer to Spring, to the orange poppies and purple iris-still waiting for me there in that small garden just behind my back door-now hidden under that soggy white blanket of half-melted snow.

Train Window

"It was morning; through the high window I saw the pure, bright blue of the sky as it hovered cheerfully over the long roofs of the neighboring houses. It too seemed full of joy, as if it had special plans, and had put on its finest clothes for the occasion. "
Herman Hesse

I took the train from LA to San Diego and saw some amazing things-people, mostly, going about their business, plodding through another day, or joyfully embracing it! 

People waiting, oblivious to the signs-Look! Restrooms! Six papers full of words! Color everywhere!

 

No swimming today! Though the waves look so inviting! Empty sand begging for barefoot toes!

 

 

 

Fade to black and white!