counting petals

2011-12-09T18:17:00.000-05:00

Button Bay would be my destination. December in Vermont and 38°. Clouds the color of snow-topped mountains. They held steady making me believe they also held time. I walked alone and yet in conversation. Noting the ducks that flushed; the sumac berries left behind. Noting the shift from red oak leaves beneath my feet to the absorbent nature of needles. Pine and hemlock. Pods of milkweed cracked

2011-11-24T09:45:00.000-05:00

To My Readers & Friends (you are one in the same to me): Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and support for my work here, and often in other areas of my life as well. Even though I don't participate in our blogging community at the level I did between 2005-07 (when I first met many of you and had a different blog called Leaning Birch), that time, our friendships, your work

2011-11-20T23:56:00.000-05:00

Water caught in the cups of leaves, though it wasn't raining on this day. I stepped off trail. Flowers to seed. One squirrel scampered under the fallen tree as soon as I turned to use my camera. So many things here. And not here. No matter how encompassing an image, a song, there is always more. I remind myself of this when I'm tempted to read instead of walk.

2011-11-17T19:47:00.003-05:00

This story begins in November.

2011-11-12T23:13:00.000-05:00

no reason to speak loudlyno one is here

2011-11-11T01:18:00.000-05:00

in anticipation of the next great place

In the Dark

2011-11-06T23:24:00.000-05:00

(Daylight Savings Time/New England) If I cannot see my handsI must trust my heart Sometimes the world makes love simple.

2011-10-24T00:44:00.000-04:00

Not this year but about this time. I know where I'll be going before too long. (smile)

2011-10-09T09:43:00.000-04:00

How many steps must one take to consider herself in (or out of) the woods?

2011-02-09T12:43:00.001-05:00

Reminded, today, how the dearest of friends can take us here. -thank you

2011-02-06T11:13:00.001-05:00

Whenever I catch a frog’s eye I am aware of this, but I do not find it depressing. I stand quite still and try hard not to move or lift a hand since it would only frighten him. And standing thus it finally comes to me that this is the most enormous extension of vision of which life is capable: the projection of itself into other lives. This is the lonely, magnificent power of humanity. It is, far

bee fly

2011-01-31T07:53:00.000-05:00

Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity. - Simone Weil

2011-01-28T08:52:00.000-05:00

mine often lead back here . . . "The story of each stone leads back to a mountain." — W.S. Merwin

2011-01-28T08:31:00.001-05:00

On January 27th, my mother wrote to me, “I loved hearing the birds yesterday. Kinda forgot they were around in the winter.” I began thinking about how we insulate ourselves. How we insulate ourselves from the world outside; and how sometimes it’s necessary to buffer, to dull, to slow the slip of frigid air through the seams of your only home. How sometimes we need to bury

Small Stones ...

2011-01-26T09:31:00.000-05:00

This morning, I was delighted to find Writing Our Way Home (by way of Crafty Green Poet). The idea of writing "small stones" is lovely... and to write and share them in a community is even more lovely. What a wonderful way to ground ourselves and cultivate peace in our lives... and in the world (simply by paying attention). :)

2011-01-24T14:03:00.000-05:00

take me to the silver lake, to the split trees, to the snow covered domes of stone, of granite, of another place that feels otherworldly even though its right in our backyard—what a mind space, what a heart place, what a beautiful way to roam

rest in peace, jim

2011-01-23T14:51:00.001-05:00

I saw the moon as well / and now, world, / "truly yours . . . " -Chiyoni (For those who knew Jim, my heart is with you too, in this emptiness, today, and in the days and weeks and months ahead, as we long for his warm spirit. Let us remind each other of what he brought by bringing each other the best of what we have to give. Thank you, Jim,

2011-01-21T23:48:00.000-05:00

I dare you. I dare you to bring your favorite bar of chocolate and join me. Here.

2011-01-18T08:18:00.000-05:00

Outside today means taking a walk from here to the big blue box where mail goes, where stamps fly, where life on the written page still has a life of its own. And moves slow. Like I do, step by step; snow racing to the ground—it catches in the curves of my scarf, my red scarf, soft wool, billowing around my neck. I walk wearing brown tights and calf high boots, determined to feel a little less

2011-01-18T07:42:00.001-05:00

refreshed by a little red in the landscape

just before sunset

2011-01-14T00:01:00.002-05:00

melted snow in the street turns to gold. stems of asters, they turn to copper. I walk, hands tight in my pockets, chin tucked to my nose in my jacket, making my way towards the river, where I hope to find a bank lined with bells.

2011-01-13T08:22:00.001-05:00

Kingsland Bay in January

2011-01-12T14:01:00.001-05:00

(today it is snow) "When the soul lies down in that grass, the world is too full to talk about. Ideas, language, even the phrase each other doesn't make any sense." -Jelaluddin Rumi

2011-01-01T22:07:00.000-05:00

But nothing can take the place of love. Love is the measure of life: only so far as we love do we really live. The variety of our interests, the width of our sympathies, the susceptibilities of our hearts—if these do not measure our lives, what does? As the years go by, we are all of us more or less subject to two dangers, the danger of petrifaction and the danger of

2010-12-31T11:13:00.002-05:00

promise

2010-12-29T23:49:00.000-05:00

I haven't decided if it's calling me forward or taking me back. Either way, life is good.

A Merry Little Christmas

2010-12-25T19:33:00.000-05:00

Wishing you and your loved ones the warmest of holidays.

2010-12-22T06:40:00.000-05:00

shhhh... things are changing

coppery moon notes

2010-12-22T00:15:00.001-05:00

If you missed the lunar eclipse (as I did), you can pop over to Steve's blog and check it out. He has an incredible photograph of the eclipsed moon surrounded by stars (something I've never seen for myself). Absolutely delightful! We'll be announcing our next TAREC adventure soon and hope you'll join us. : )

On the Night of the Lunar Eclipse

2010-12-21T10:45:00.000-05:00

(the first lunar eclipse to overlap with winter solstice in 456 years) Like a child awaiting reindeer hooves, I lie awake listening for the fullness of the moon. I can’t describe what I’m listening for, but I know I’ll recognize its call. I hear small scurryings behind the wall. This is the sound of a farm. An old farm in winter. In Vermont. Sometimes it moans. Sometimes, it creaks. Sometimes,

Looking Ahead: 2011

2010-12-15T10:48:00.002-05:00

In a brief post on November 27th, I posted a quote from Henry Beston about his choice to remain on Cape Cod through the winter, “My house completed . . . I went there to spend a fortnight in September. The fortnight ending, I lingered on, and as the year lengthened into autumn, the beauty and mystery of this earth and outer sea so possessed and held me that I could not go.” In much the same way

2010-12-14T08:03:00.000-05:00

winter is gathering in the curves of trees

It's Official: TAREC & You're Invited to Join

2010-12-13T10:00:00.000-05:00

Please consider joining our: Together Apart Random Event Club (TAREC) It all started when my friend, Sandy, from gardenpath, made an innocent comment about wishing she had done a full moon snowshoe. That led me to the idea that we should "go together" (separately--as she lives in Maine; I live in Vermont) and invite our friends. The idea would be to commit to an event on the same day, such as

a few leaves remain

2010-12-11T13:49:00.001-05:00

"All through autumn we hear a double voice: one says everything is ripe; the other says everything is dying. The paradox is exquisite." --Gretel Ehrlich, The Solace of Open Spaces

Columbia University Press

2010-12-10T16:09:00.000-05:00

I just have to share the most delightful surprise I've had in a long time. : ) Today, I received a 20-pound box of books, free, from Columbia University Press. I'm a CUP fan on Facebook. A few days ago, they offered the first 17 people to respond, a free 20-pound box of books. I was lucky number 3. The first of 18 books that I plan to read: Bright Wings: An Illustrated Anthology of Poems About

2010-12-09T19:56:00.002-05:00

This photograph was taken several years ago near a swamp that has since transitioned to a semi-marsh. There is no standing water now--no reflections. Last summer, as I approached the edge, there were no splashing frogs; they did not squeak. I wonder about them. Where they once lived, now a field of cattails thrives, and small shrubs. And this winter, this winter is berry-less. The staghorn

yes! : )

2010-12-09T11:51:00.015-05:00

"In a simple bow from the waist before the nest of the horned lark, you are able to stake your life, again, in what you dream." --Barry Lopez I keep returning to this final line of Barry Lopez's Preface to Arctic Dreams, saying to myself, Yes! Hold this understanding. Start moving in the world with this awareness again. (Nearly every line of this book moves me. If you find yourself

Why Do You Photograph? (inspired by Jay Goodrich)

2010-12-08T13:32:00.001-05:00

Jay Goodrich wrote a post today on Art Wolfe's blog titled, "Why Do You Photograph?" It inspired me to briefly consider why I shoot, and I wanted to encourage you all to also consider the question. Please let me know if you write a "Why I Photograph" post. I'm interested to know what inspires you. I've been thinking a lot about this question of "why we create" in relation to writing, but I

from the edge of a reservoir

2010-12-08T00:03:00.012-05:00

at first there is no water, there is no landthere is only white you can somehow stick your fingers through & wiggle, maybe see the tips before they numb in the cold of an early morning fog a part of you wants to see what lies beyond the weightless veil you cannot moveanother part decides you like living in a cloud then (as always) a mountain range you’ve

In the Heart of It ... December

2010-12-07T00:01:00.000-05:00

PS Would anyone be interested in committing to a full moon hike/snowshoe/ski this winter? Sandy got me thinking about how fun it would be if we all picked a moon and went out at the same time. We could post about it the following day and link to the other "full mooners." It would almost be like we shared it. :) Just a thought.

monday morning . . .

2010-12-06T10:02:00.000-05:00

snowflakes teeter towards the ground (can I call them chubby?) crows are cawing reading Arctic Dreams while sipping coffee thoughts of fishing drift in and out... and other near impossibilities this winter I will make the full moon snowshoe I've been dreaming about

2010-12-03T10:46:00.000-05:00

"Deep in their roots, all flowers keep the light." -Theodore Roethke

2010-12-02T04:53:00.000-05:00

My friend, Sandy, at gardenpath, posted a series of winter grasses and wildflowers that inspired me to pull out my grass identification book by Lauren Brown. I've wanted to learn the names of grasses for years, but I just haven't devoted the time to it. Wildflowers get my attention first. Then ferns. I try naming the trees, but I think I'm often wrong (I started making up my own names *wink*). I

Not Far From Yesterday

2010-12-01T07:08:00.002-05:00

For a moment, we have given up on words as a way of sharing space. From the bow, I cannot even see him. The boat lightly trembles from a fluctuation of weight as he adjusts his posture. I adjust mine. The cane seat slightly gives under my movement. I notice the slightest bit of water has run into a line from my shoes. Even the sound of my breath is loud in this world where tamaracks glow. There

2010-11-29T11:17:00.003-05:00

Reminded of John Burroughs’ words, “You must have the bird in your heart before you can find it in the bush.” You are in my heart. You are in my heart.

2010-11-28T00:03:00.000-05:00

our first real snow this season--a view from the 'driving bridge'

One's Outermost House

2010-11-27T08:21:00.000-05:00

Henry Beston, in his book the Outermost House, reflecting on his choice to stay in his little cottage on Cape Cod through the winter, wrote, “My house completed . . . I went there to spend a fortnight in September. The fortnight ending, I lingered on, and as the year lengthened into autumn, the beauty and mystery of this earth and outer sea so possessed and held me that I could not go.” I'm

2010-11-26T20:12:00.002-05:00

It was a day when green grass went white and red apples took flight from the tree. What a delight to gaze into the world of winter and cardinals rewriting.

2010-11-25T11:22:00.001-05:00

appreciating the quiet places in my life . . . and the joy of sharing them

2010-11-24T08:24:00.000-05:00

mountaintop bog in November

2010-11-23T06:25:00.001-05:00

Virgin's bower (please let me know if I have the ID wrong)

2010-11-22T18:08:00.001-05:00

My only steps outside today took me into the rain, into the sleet that came after the snow,though I never saw the white clumpsfalling. They were simply congregating on the lawn by the time my armswere carrying wood. By the time I had walked through the rainfeeling like I needed an awning for a hat. By the time I had noted that I hadn’t noted the raspberry bushesor the precise moment when pumpkins

2010-11-21T16:17:00.000-05:00

Crawford Notch, NH

listening

2010-11-20T23:33:00.000-05:00

While the wind roars, I put my ear to the trunk of a pine and hear the air hissing up and down, fairly crawling over that great column with its skin of rough bark, and it sounds like rushing water. It is part of an inheritance that we have been long neglecting, and to our peril. John Hay, The Immortal Wilderness The wind has been wicked the past few days. Until reading a passage from John Hay

2010-11-19T16:56:00.003-05:00

tonight, there was snow in the forest—only a dusting, but still . . . the ground was hard, the road was empty, the ferns were limp the sun—the sun is always glorious when it slips between the hills goldenrod was seedless, milkweed was letting goit was a good walk, it was a good daythe moon rising on my way home

2010-11-19T01:21:00.001-05:00

Let me be here. Know here. Rest here.

2010-11-18T07:56:00.005-05:00

bluets do bloom in November I took this photograph five years ago--November 5, 2005. I had been paddling with my dearest friend, who would, by the next November, be diagnosed with cancer, and by November 2007, no longer be sharing this physical world with me. This post isn't about cancer. It is about returning to what we love. I continue to feel that pull, that desire to inhabit the world the

A Few Notes From a Walk at Noon

2010-11-17T13:51:00.011-05:00

52°, briefly sunny... turning to a gray wool-sky (snow is in the forecast) The shoulder of the dirt road was soft. I counted the number of needles in a clump, hoping to identify the pine sometime later. Mushrooms, the shape of ears, grew in rows along a trunk; I wanted to rub them between my fingers. Cedars warmed just enough to smell sweet along the bend. The cow did not charge me at the

2010-11-15T09:57:00.001-05:00

in early November

Driving Bridge

2010-11-15T09:18:00.008-05:00

No matter how tired I feel, how weary, I can stand on the bridge, open my palms towards the water falling, and feel refreshed. In those moments, maybe not even minutes long, I know nothing but the tumble of water, a foaming roar. I hear nothing but the way gravity pulls. An old Ford slows as if watching, assessing the needs of woman on a bridge. This is a driving bridge, not a

2010-11-14T11:19:00.004-05:00

early frost

Little Wings

2010-11-13T14:44:00.007-05:00

If I could tell you about my day, I would tell you about the skim ice, about my favorite pond, how it’s closing in on itself starting from the shore. I would tell you about the beech trees, how they’re leafless, particularly leafless this year. Usually they hold on; they let their leaves rattle in the winter wind. But yesterday, the forest floor was made slick with them, pulverized in the path I

2010-05-12T00:00:00.004-04:00

May 10th... snow still falls.

2010-05-04T01:39:00.002-04:00

I was relieved to see goldthread still blooming, clintonia and Canada mayflower with closed buds. The strawberries and dogwoods, leatherleaf and hobblebush were all full-flower. This sweet, spongy, early spring has just begun, and I am walking.

2010-04-19T08:20:00.004-04:00

becoming

2010-01-21T22:01:00.005-05:00

from river to hill, my heart

2010-01-17T06:43:00.004-05:00

Sunset. December

2009-11-27T11:47:00.006-05:00

Thank You Letter to a Best Friend all you had to do was say Go outside and introduce yourself over and over again until I could not separate my love from the trees this is how I knew you, the world, and one day, like geese you had to go. some never return in the spring At least not the same way, I’m sure you’d say to me. for two years, I’ve been going back to the put-ins, watching us

Happy Thanksgiving

2009-11-25T19:23:00.010-05:00

from my place to yours

2009-11-21T13:05:00.016-05:00

rainy morning. I hear chickadeesone cedar waxing in a tangled crown of glossy blacklimbs. a sculpture in the sky

2009-11-18T11:09:00.000-05:00

2009-11-11T17:03:00.005-05:00

while naming ferns two birds, yellow breasts arrows between branches I could only hope for a sharper eyes

2009-11-03T08:37:00.006-05:00

on the eve of The Hunter's Moon hands warmed by the stove. the world was quiet

2009-11-02T08:39:00.003-05:00

I've been here before . . . but never like this.

2009-10-29T14:19:00.008-04:00

in the mood for a little green on this gray, nearly November day