"There was a child went forth every day; And the first object he look'd upon, that object he became;And that object became part of him for the day, or a certain part ofthe day, or for many years, or stretching cycles of years. The early lilacs became part of this child,And grass, and white and red morning-glories, and white and red clover, and the song of the phoebe-bird,And the Third-month ...
Words to Live by
Jack Frost is About
Jack FrostBy C.E. Pike Look out! Look out! Jack Frost is about! He's after our fingers and toes; And all through the night, The gay little sprite Is working where nobody knows. He'll climb each tree, So nimble is he, His silvery powder he'll shake. To windows he'll creep And while we're asleep Such wonderful pictures he'll make. Across the grass He'll merrily pass, And change all its greenness ...
Thoreau’s Winter Walk
On this first day of winter, I'll welcome in the new season by sharing a few of my favorite passages from "A Winter Walk" by Henry David Thoreau: The wind has gently murmured through the blinds, or puffed with feathery softness against the windows, and occasionally sighed like a summer zephyr lifting the leaves along, the livelong night. The meadow mouse has slept in his snug gallery in the ...
Raven Steals the Light
I love to spend the Winter Solstice curled up by the woodstove with a hot mug of mulled cider or wine, listening to stories, poems and folktales by candlelight. Of all the stories I have heard on the longest night of the year, the Pacific Northwest coastal creation myth of Raven Steals the Light is my absolute favorite. I have heard of its telling with a few variations in ...
A Rose in Mid-Winter
Look what is blooming outside my kitchen window...in December. It reminded me of an old 16th-Century German Christmas carol, "Es ist ein' Ros' entsprungen", or "Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming." "It came, a flow'ret bright,Amid the cold of winter,When half spent was the night." ...
Theme in Yellow
Theme in Yellow I spot the hills With yellow balls in autumn.I light the prairie cornfieldsOrange and tawny gold clustersAnd I am called pumpkins.On the last of OctoberWhen dusk is fallenChildren join hands around meSinging ghost songsAnd love to the harvest moon;I am a jack-o'-lanternWith terrible teethAnd the children knowI am fooling. ~Carl Sandburg ...
If I Could Be Any Tree
If I Could Be Any Tree If I could be any tree,If I could be any tree,If I could be any tree,An oak is what I'd be.An oak is what I'd be. I'd grow so tall and my roots would grow so deep,And every fall I'd have the brightest leaves. And if you were a little squirrel,If you were a little squirrel,If you were a little squirrel,You could eat for free.You could eat for free. I would give you everything ...
Redwing Blackbirds in the Garden
The great flocks of redwing blackbirds feasting on sunflower seeds out in the garden and corn patch have been delighting us with their trilling calls and bright red flashes of color lately. They reminded me of one of Carl Sandburg's Harvest Poems that I would like to share: Laughing Corn There was a high majestic fooling Day before yesterday in the yellow corn. And day after tomorrow in the ...
Fields Where Scarlet Poppies Run
"The silver rain, the golden sun. The fields where scarlet poppies run. And all the ripples of the wheat are in the food that we do eat. So when we sit for every meal we say grace we always feel that we are eating rain and sun and fields where scarlet poppies run." ~Traditional Meal Blessing ...
This is Just to Say…
This Is Just to Say I have eaten the plums that were in the icebox and which you were probably saving for breakfast Forgive me they were delicious so sweet and so cold ~William Carlos Williams ...