Taking a break...

Two roads diverged in a wood...and I shall take the one less traveled by...

and hope that makes all the difference.

Robert Frost

I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud

by William Wordsworth

I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine

And twinkle on the milky way,

They stretched in never-ending line

Along the margin of a bay:

Ten thousand saw I at a glance,

Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they

Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:

A poet could not but be gay,

In such a jocund company:

I gazed--and gazed--but little thought

What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude;

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the daffodils.

This poem was featured on the Writer's Almanac today; one of my daily reads.

The image of the daffodils "fluttering and dancing in the breeze" is perfect for today.

Years ago, my work commute was a long drive in heavy traffic;

the last leg of the journey was along a street lined with giant suburban houses,

most built a long time ago with good architectural bones;

one of the property owners on this street planted daffodils along the roadside; masses of them.

The first year that I drove down that street in April

and saw all the daffodils in bloom

I gasped aloud at the sheer volume and beauty of the sight.

I was inspired to give my own burst of happiness to travelers

each spring

so I planted clumps of daffodils down on the roadside of my property.

Today, they still look beautiful;

the sand and salt from the winters killed off many clumps,

but for the most part

it is a sunny, happy display of spring.

Happiness can be yours just by looking at nature.

I smile and have a spring in my step each year when the flowers are in full display.

People have stopped and told me how much they like the flowers too.

weekend planting...

"....break them out of their narrowness."

Harvard professor Laurel Thatcher Ulrich on the use of the tangible in academic study. Here is an exerpt from the Harvard Gazette on Objects of Instruction

While Hamburger and Galison focused on the rare and the remarkable in Harvard’s collections, Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, the 300th Anniversary University Professor, and Ivan Gaskell, Margaret S. Winthrop Curator in theHarvard Art Museums and senior lecturer on history, extolled the virtues of the mundane and the everyday: a toothbrush, a chair, a piece of clothing. “My adventure has been to move into the realm of material objects and use them to study ordinary people in ordinary life,” Ulrich said.

Ulrich, the developer of the popular General Education course and exhibition “Tangible Things,” stood at the front of the classroom and pulled a quilt out of an old bookcase. The quilt, which was made in Missouri during the 1920s, was designed with dark blue hexagons. She said that she had students research the source of the design, which led them back hundreds of years to a study of Islamic decorative art, its migration through Europe and then to America. An examination of the cloth and its manufacture in the American South took students through the history of slavery.

Ulrich said that she wanted her students to work with artifacts to “break them out of their narrowness” and help them make connections between unrelated things like a quilt made in Missouri and an Islamic tile.

Observation is such an important part of learning. Connections: one era to an another. Everything repeats. We are inspired by the past. Read and See. See and Do. Listen. Start each day with the idea of learning something new. When I am in a funk and nothing seems to be working out I remember my mantra: make each day matter. What I mean by this is to use my senses to keenly observe the world around me. I am pleasantly surprised by something I discover. Small joys. All for free. Just open your eyes, your ears, your heart and you too will be amazed by a little nugget of wisdom or joy.

“You see cultural contact and exchange in ways that you cannot see in books and writing,” she said. “Students get really excited when you put them in touch with real stuff.”

Photo caption by Brian Rea for Modern Love column,

New York Times, April 7 , 2011

Being a mother is the best thing about my life.

This morning I read the most amazing story in the Modern Love column of the New York Times.

It is a powerful story of love and anguish.

The Style Saloniste aka Diane Dorrans Saeks conducted an interview

with photographer Vicki Topaz on her new book: Silent Nests. The interview is interesting and the photographs are beautiful, however, it was the author's description of a book that she is currently working on that captivated me; the book is called Silver: A State of Mind - here is what she says about it.

Diane Dorrans Saeks: What are you working on now?

Vicky Topaz: My current work, entitled ‘Silver: A State of Mind’, is a series of portraits of women who possess one of the most distinctive outward signs of aging--silvering hair. The project deals with the transformative and challenging aspects of aging and aims to reveal the core energy, vitality and allure of these women and how they are moving through this time in their lives. I find the silvering of hair is an entry point to a diversity of thoughts and ideas on the subject. This is a different sort of "landscape"--women who are aging and the vistas they inhabit.

So today, my birthday, I am reflecting on my age. Awhile back I made the decision not to change the color of my hair - I am aging as God intended - silver sparkles in my hair now. I like it and I love the idea that "the silvering of hair is an entry point to a diversity of thoughts and ideas on the subject".

When I turned 50 my dear friend June said to me: "50 allows us to say and think whatever we want - we have earned it". So silver shots in my hair and lots of years, I have earned it. And you know what? All the hairdressers love my shimmery silver - mixed in with my light brown.

And my body thanks me for it - no chemicals. And Mother Earth thanks me too.

Read this NYT piece by Dominque Browning of Slow Love Life blog. It is about long hair on older women but also about graying hair.

I was never a fan of the big box book stores. I am not surprised that they are having a hard time.

Some Connecticut book stores that I enjoy are places like Diane's Books in Greenwich and R. J. Julia's in Madison. Other book shops I like are a Bunch of Grapes in Edgartown, Nantucket Bookworks or Concord Bookshop, all in Massachusetts. Whenever I travel, I find a bookshop and explore the shelves. I also explore online, like the Tattered Cover Book store in Colorado.

Just look at the difference in the logos.

I love walking around independent bookstores, reading the labels that the staff place on the shelves, asking for suggestions, looking at the masses of books piled on the floor at Diane's ( a sight to behold). A lot of other people like it too because these book shops are still in business.

At Christmas and birthdays, I always support the independents when buying books as presents. These days I am a heavy user of the library; in fact I always have been a huge library fan, even during my days in NYC. There was a nice library in midtown not far from my office. When I moved to the Connecticut town where I now live, one of the first things I checked out was the library. I couldn't imagine living in a place with a mediocre library. Our library is wonderful. It is a vibrant, busy place with people of all ages using its books and services. It is a happy place. . Reading Jonathan Franzen's Freedom and The Sun Also Rises now.

holy mackerel...

it rained and rained

so glad it wasn't snow.

Spring will be here soon!

The daffodills are begin to pop through the soil.

I forced a few branches... more pictures to follow.

The brook at the bottom of our hill is raging like a river.

and the daylight at 5:00 o'clock is such a delight

illustration from

The same morning that I saw the plaque in the sidewalk about the hour of three o'clock, I walked by this guy; it was 6:00AM and I was on the other side of the street. I thought he was real and wondered who on earth he was helping...silly me. After my cup of coffee I walked back, this time on the policeman's side of the street. I had to take a picture. Only reason I am writing about it now is the lack of blog fodder. Ciao.

March and still cold with snow covered ground ... but just a few more months and we will feel the balmy early morning breezes at the flower truck.

What do you think about three o'clock?

When I am at home in the late winter, I love sitting in my kitchen

at three o'clock.

It is cold outside, but the sun pours in through the windows,

making the kitchen bright and extra warm.

Perfect time for a cup of tea.

It makes me happy even imagining it.

I never seem to be home any more.

Still looking for balance.

I saw this plaque embedded in a sidewalk in Washington DC

last fall. It made me smile.

How am I doing with my new year's resolutions or goals?

1) Less procrastination: improving, but still a long way to go

2) Finish one knitting project per month: look what came off the needles in January

one week ago below and then presto

a cozy neck warmer making it up north for my little miss is

the blanket that I started in September of 2008

all that's left is to seam it together.

February's off the needles feature

3) Get through my stacks of old magazines: not yet

4) Read one book per month: slow, not enough time

5) Work on more happiness every day: yes, I read the happiness project daily

6) And last but not least, develop more MRR Design business: I am still in hibernation mode, but I had a wonderful meeting with two creative friends - we are collaborating on ideas and projects - exciting, inspiring, fun,

~~~

Remember to be grateful.

Trust in my faith.

Trust in myself.

Old man winter is at it again!

Photo from NYSD

snow fatigue

even for me, a hardy New Englander

We shovel paths all around the yard

to give our dog Libby some room to run

and to get to grill, the kindling stash, up the back stairs

the front door, the back door

All these paths remind me of a childhood game my sisters, brother and I

created

called Witch

We would spend hours raking leaves in the autumn

to create paths in the back yard and to make houses

then we would play...

it was like tag; you could only run on the paths

and you were only safe in your house

if you were caught at a dead end

off to jail you would go and could only be rescued by being tagged.

Hours of fun...and a little raking too.

this path to the wood pile,

where two roads diverged...which one one to take...

and a few loops for extra fun

the snowy world from Libby's eyes

as she runs down a corridor of snow

that's the garden - you can just see the tops of the fence posts

and more snow next week!

Yikes

My house on Christmas Day 2010

January 27, 2011

We haven't had snow like this since 1995

beautiful whiteness this morning

blue dawn

sounds muffled

coffee ready

Garden shed today and a month ago

Someone told me recently to look up and look out,

there is beauty all around us.

This morning I saw the lovely meringue cap on the lamppost above

see how the top twirls up to a point.

lovely

I thought it might be fun to chart the snow piles with the weathervane

Early December above - then it all melted

one week ago - January 19, 2011

look in the center of this photo

see the post sticking up out of the snow mound

January 27, 2011

You cannot even see the weathervane

Looking from my perch as I compose this entry;

the lattice has a whole new design.

Look up and look out;

there is beauty all around you.

The peacock is the ancient symbol of eternal life in Christianity

and the national bird of India.

This particular guy was walking around the grounds of a retreat center

where I enjoyed two peaceful days.

Pickles (yes, that is his name) perched in a tree

watching over us.

His colors were spectacular:

brilliant blue with the shock of white on his head

and vivid iridescent green eyes on the plumage.

I did not witness the fan

and could not capture the beauty of the colors with my camera,

but pickles was a beautiful sight.

Peacock imagery below

via Habitually Chic

Coco Chanel Coromandel Screen Detail

The days were bright and cold.

Rhododendron leaves tightly curled,

sound of crunching snow,

feeling frozen nose hairs,

all signs of temperatures in the single digits.

It was like winter camp for the soul.

I loved every minute.

Contrasts of cold and natural beauty

with

warmth, wisdom, welcome

The theme was balance.

Words of wisdom:

Accepting hardship as the pathway to peace.