Wise & Delectable Things

 And then

the butterfly

rose, weightless, in the wind.

"Don't love your life

too much," it said,
and vanished

into the world.

- Mary Oliver

 

 

I've been working 12hrs/7dys and finally got a day off to do all the things adulting requires

- and -

some gardening in the rain when I spotted a chrysalis on the moon flower.

After I finished all my chores, I went back out to photograph the chrysalis and this freshly emerged Monarch was waiting for me. That’s TWO this year that I know of, after planting the pollinator garden last year. We are elated.

I'm glad I was able to take the cub fishing before the call came last month that it was all hands on deck until further notice.  I checked my email this morning and it looks like they are finally reducing hours to 8 1/2 x 6 dys/wk, which feels like a relief.  I'm looking forward to a normal work schedule, whenever that happens. 

May this note find you happy and well and loving your life as I am. 

 

 

Shel Silverstein II

May the poems be
the little snail’s trail.
Everywhere I go,
every inch: quiet record
of the foot’s silver prayer.
                I lived once.
                Thank you.
                It was here.

- Areclis Girmay , Ars Poetica

We took a walk to the lake so he could try out the carp tackle he received for his birthday.  On the way back we met Shel Silverstein II trying to cross the sandy trail.  I lifted him up and moved him to a safe location atop an oak leaf in the direction he was headed.

Sometimes the Wind

“and sometimes the wind
has touched my cheek
like a spirit.” - Mary Oliver

Today, even with all its dreariness there are these moments with feathered kin that delight us. This is Captain Jack. He is a Chipping Sparrow, and is quite the singer.

Hope

“Hope is the thing with feathers -
That perches in the soul -
And sings the tune without the words -
And never stops - at all -"
- Emily Dickinson 

 I have never known what boredom feels like. I think it is a blessing. This morning I had a visit from Woodstock the Goldfinch and his lady, Goldiflocks. I also had a visit from Skye the Bluebird. I had a bunch of over ripe bananas in the freezer so I made Brown Butter Bourbon Banana Bread. I didn't have any bourbon so I substituted homemade Nocino, and chocolate chips because....chocolate. 

I remembered this one day after 9/11, the Red Cross was stationed on my corner and one of the workers stopped me. She offered me some m&ms. I started crying and said, "No thanks, I don't need them". She said, "I know you don't neeeeed them...you neeeeed food and shelter and rest...but chocolate...is for the soul". I laughed. I didn't think I had a laugh left in me.

The great Alice Walker wrote, "Hard times requires furious dancing", I would like to add chocolate to that, and edible stars to float upon Juniper Tea, and a cup made by the hands of a dear friend in Ireland, and thrifted napkins that I dyed with indigo, and also...also...feathered hope.

Unexpected Joy

“If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, 
don’t hesitate. Give in to it.” - Mary Oliver 



Savoring moments of joy wherever I find them. Today it was a visit from Woodstock F. Goldfinch (the F is for festival). I named him Woodstock when I met him last summer because he flies much like the cartoon character which is amusing to watch and he sings a tune while flying that rises and dips as he does. Today he visited my blueberry bushes and peeped at me thru the window.

Hummingbird Moth

“If you notice anything,
it leads you to notice
more
and more” - Mary Oliver

Last night, right before I sighed over the beautiful sunset, I noticed a moonflower shaking wildly and heard the sound of wings. “Oh my”, I said to my son, “is that a hummingbird in there?” And no sooner did I finish that pondering, a giant hummingbird moth emerged and moved on to the next bloom, diving into the blossom with wild abandon. “Let’s catch it for a look”, my son whispered. “let’s not”, I replied. Instead, I grabbed my phone and took a vid clip.

Maybe these encounters are commonplace in your life that they no longer have power over you. Or maybe, like me, you know too well how fragile and fleeting it is, and how lucky we are that this little community of ours is still home to animal kin other than human.

I remember hearing whippoorwills in the evening when I was a child. And i also remember when i stopped hearing them. The silence was deafening and heartbreaking. I long for that song still.

As Though I Had Wings

“I want to be light and frolicsome.
I want to be improbable beautiful and afraid of nothing,
as though I had wings.”
- Mary Oliver

I found this little critter on the sidewalk on the way back from meeting a friend. Perhaps a collision with a windshield. Nevertheless I brought it home with me and placed it in the cabinet of curiosities. I think it’s a Buckeye Butterfly maybe.

Seekers of Sweetness

“My work is loving the world.
Here the sunflowers, there the hummingbird -
equal seeker of sweetness.”
- Mary Oliver 

Bessie Coleman Hummingbird

Yesterday I drove to Meadows Farms for some rooting powder with hopes of salvaging a piece of my hydrangea that broke off in the move. There I saw some cosmos looking rather forlorn. I asked the fellow for a price and he told me that I could have the whole wagon for free because they needed some TLC and he was going to throw them away. I said that I would give them some “wendy loving care”. He chuckled then gave me some gardening wisdom.

I stopped at Lowe’s to get some stone to build a pedestal for my little birdbath fountain and nestled it amongst the cosmos and native plants. I hope they approve.

In other news, I have a name for the cerulean warbler who has been serenading me daily. It’s Caelum...it means heaven.

End of Winter Break Wherein All Hell Breaks Loose

On January 2nd they went back to school with a setting wolf moon.  Then we had a number of cancellations and delays due to frigid temps, icy roads and not enough snow to sled upon.  The man cub  had a sleepover and the following day he landed in the ER from an unexpected asthma flair.   We hunkered down and photograph the visitors in our well stocked feeders.  The flowers from our solstice party bloomed, and over the course of these cold, wintry weeks,  I baked a peach tart, chocolate banana tea loaves and a Palermo Pizza.  And, as is our tradition when we are lacking sled worthy snow, we took a day trip to a ski lodge to go tubing.

Full wolf moon setting at the bus stop

Robin Goodfellow

Eastern Bluebird

The finches

Red Bellied Woodpecker

Titmouse, Finch & Junco

Sassy Wren

Nuthatch and Dove

Ms. Cardinal

Mister Cardinal

Dark and decadent chocolate banana tea loaves: I had a tropical nightmare of overripe bananas that I didn’t want to waste so I made this treat from one of my favorite bakeries in NYC named Once Upon a Tart. I remember walking down the street one summer day and seeing a man burning decades of paint off the old and beautifully carved woodwork that donned the storefront door and window. I sat myself down on the sidewalk and watched while chatting him up. He told me they were restoring the shop for their new bakery. I came back the next day and watched him remove paint from the metal ceiling tiles. The thought of a tiny bakery on my block made me swoon and it quickly became my haunt. Many years later, when I moved to VA, I discovered they published a cookbook and in it, the recipe.

* Sfincione sans anchovies: When I lived in NYC, my most favorite pizza joint was Ben’s in SoHo. It was the only place I knew that made the Palermo pie aka Sfincione. Traditionally served on New Year’s Eve, it’s topped with tomato sauce, caramelized onions, sheep’s milk cheese and breadcrumbs. Here in VA it was a challenge to find good pizza in general, let alone Sicilian, and there is NOT a single sfincione to be had anywhere. I nearly forgot about it until my friend Marybeth posted a photo of one that she made and the memories of the bliss filled bite came flooding back in vivid detail. I hit the interwebs and searched for a recipe, determined to make that slice of heaven. And I did. And now I’m eating a left over slice for breakfast before we head to the mountains to go snow tubing with friends.

This Shining Moment: Mancub and Mantis

when I am every day all day all body and no mind, when I am
physically, wholly and completely, in this world with the birds,
the deer, the sky, the wind, the trees…

- David Budbill
(This Shining Moment in the Now)

Summer rushed by so quickly and suddenly I find myself washing off the porch and all the summer toys to put them in the basement for winter storage.

"but not the nets and observations tanks", he says.

I did not think that the erratic fluctuations in temperature would bring us anymore critter visitations.  I was wrong.

Wherefore O' Summer's Day : Autumn in the Garden

The bee is not afraid of me,
I know the butterfly..."  - Emily Dickinson

This migrating fellow ( Monarch Edward ) stayed with us for quite a spell while we watered our veggie patch. 

Silent and Felt: Great Horned Owl Release

"Coming down out of the freezing sky
with its depths of light,
like an angel, or a Buddha with wings..."
- Mary Oliver

He was found in a brush pile, a nestling fallen from his home.  No owl families were located nearby to raise him.  He was rehabilitated by a rescuer and we attended his glorious release.  With a thrust of his great, silent wings he rose and flew off into the sunset.

July Vignettes

Wilderness Survival Camp

Jason Drevnak & the mancub

Wilderness Survival family camp out

Gift from Lille Diane

summer blanket forts

dive in movie

Polyphemus Moth Larva

lego raptor

cupcake gifts from two mighty girls

Sunflower fields McKee Beshers Maryland

Mind controlled Shark

bedside dragon