Welcome!
The Gilded Cage
We are so civilized! We love our children and old people, right? Really? Then how come we slash pre-school programs, food programs, and education budgets? We take our old people out of their “too big” homes, put them into (very small) beautiful apartments, take away all their “toys,” sit them down in front of the tv, and say “be happy.” They are up-rooted from their friends, schedules and routines. There isn’t room for most of their "toys,” the things that have given their lives meaning. Apartments range from minimal to gorgeous, and the managers think the renters should be grateful. [...]
Dancing Girls
When I lived in the mountains, on my way to the highway, I drove through the woods, along winding tree-lined country roads. One house I passed had evergreen trees which were different: they formed a hedge, and were trimmed. They were high, but only about half the height of the trees left to their own devices. They were sculpted: narrow but blunt at the top, sort of like a head without a neck, and came down to very wide at the bottom, sort of like a body with a wide skirt but no waist. They reminded me of the [...]
Mr. Vader, You Need to Learn Manners
While a friend was having significant changes made to her house, I would sometimes cover for her, while she was at work during the day, when men were working there. I would go there in the morning and stay until she returned in the evening, before leaving to go back home myself. Sometimes we would sit out on the new patio and have a glass of wine while watching the sun set. On one such evening, it was already almost dark by the time I left. I headed out on the minor highway towards home. The road started with two [...]
Spring: The Rhythms of Nature
The countryside is ablaze with spring green and blossoms. Colors are everywhere. The greens are different from the darker shades of summer, not to mention the outrageous golden feast for the eyes in the fall. Spring green is a yellow green, a light green, a sunshiny green. It is a transient color which lasts only until the leaves are fully open and matured. It is the color of departed winter, the color of hope and dreams. Against a shocking blue sky the effect is stunning. Breath-taking. We look forward, forgetting the privations of winter, the cold, the shoveling, the heavy [...]
Welcome Spring
The Willows have a secret, They're yelling loud and clear: "Winter will not last All year." The countryside is changing Trees are not all dead; The willows now are yellow, Birches red. Icicles are dripping Mud is everywhere Skaters on the lake Shouldn't dare. Water runs in rivers Snow is melting fast The grey and white of winter Won't last. Starlings are returning Blackbirds have been seen. Snowdrops are emerging. Grass is green. Storms and blizzards rage-ed Jack Frost had his fling Winter now is over WELCOME SPRING.