Friday, November 20, 2015

So much . . .


So much depends
upon

yellow woods
and

a red canoe. . . .


(I intended to post this last month, but the month evaporated. The yellow leaves are now gone, but the red canoe remains.)

xx

Tuesday, September 22, 2015

The Cloud Lifts

Sometimes you think you know
where you are 
in a story
but then
a cloud descends


and you're no longer sure:

Is this the right setting?
What's down there in that valley?
What is going to happen?
Why can't I see . . .?

You walk from one room
to the next
You wash a dish or two
and then


The cloud lifts!
It's a miracle.
You know where you are.
You know where you're going.

At least for the time being . . .

xx

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Land of Bloomability and Unfinished Angel, continued


If you continue past the Herman Hesse museum
(see previous post)
you will come to a stone arch
that connects two buildings

a path leads you through the arch
and down a short slope

you round a curve
the trees part
and then
you see
this:



You can hardly believe your eyes.

You have to sit there
on a red bench
and 
breathe deeply.

Such a world!

xx

Saturday, September 5, 2015

Switzerland and Bloomability


I'm back in Switzerland
in the land of Bloomability
and The Unfinished Angel
coming and going
one foot here
one foot in the States
for the next two years.

Above photo is from one of my favorite walks
through the village of Montagnola
past the small Herman Hesse museum.

Below is a close-up of Hesse's typewriter
in that second-story window:


Something quite charming
about that black typewriter
with white paper
ready to be filled
with
words
. . .

xx

Saturday, July 25, 2015

Black eyes and goosenecks . . .


I am a collector
of vases

and vases need
flowers

so

I suppose
I am also
a collector 
of flowers.


At night
against a darkened window

they appear
so elegant
so graceful.

xx

Friday, July 3, 2015

Girl and Lamb


Sometimes
this happens:
a girl
and a lamb
and a cast-off gown
appear
at the edge
of the woods.

xx

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

More Love That School . . .

So much depends
upon


eager students
reading


and asking
questions

with such
energy

and enthusiasm
and good cheer .  . . 

Thank you, 
Camden schools
for the 
warm
welcome.

xx
Your Author




Friday, May 15, 2015

Love Those Schools, cont. . . .

One of the bonuses
of living in Maine
and visiting schools in Maine
is that the scenery
is always
magnificent
and the people
are ultra-friendly.

recently I visited schools 
in Jonesport and Beals Island.


They've been studying The Wanderer
and have developed so many wonderful projects 
based on their year-long theme:
Navigating the Storm.

Science, health, literature, art, math, music
incorporating all disciplines:
Wow!

Below are some of the art projects.
I wish I could have included photos
of all the other projects
but at some point
I put away my camera
and merely drooled.

(More photos at above link to Island Readers and Writers)




Tied into the above weaving
are individual scrolls
on which students had written
private messages about their own storms.


Above: flag and radio code



Left to right:
Ruth Feldman*, Principal Chris Crowley (Beals Island), Me,
Principal Dr. Debra Lay (Jonesport), and Jan Coates.*
(* = Directors, Island Readers and Writers)

Thank you all, for an inspiring visit!

xx

Sunday, May 3, 2015

Love That School

Sometimes
I visit 
amazing schools

where the enthusiasm
and energy
and good will
is so high

that 
swoon.


Bright and cheery welcome


students independently engaged



playing with words


celebrating books


and people
and
their
stories.

Thank you
Fay School
for a beauteous
and delicious
visit.

You're all
amazing.

xx

Friday, March 13, 2015

Sun Worship

So
the sun came out


and we turned our heads
toward it


Ahhh
we said
ahhh

. . .

xx

Friday, March 6, 2015

The Red Bench


(Click to enlarge)

so much depends
upon

a wooden bench
painted red

perched on the
side

of a Swiss
mountain

~~

This bench appears in two of my books:  
Bloomability and The Unfinished Angel

xx

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Switzerland


Casa Camuzzi
Montagnola, Switzerland

. . . where Herman Hesse lived, wrote and painted in the latter part of his life.  Part of the house is now a museum in his honor.  He is buried in the churchyard of nearby St. Abbondio.

During the year that I wrote The Unfinished Angel, my husband and I lived in Montagnola and every day I walked along the path beside Casa Camuzzi. . . 

near the house in which we lived


overlooking this valley.

Ah, Svizzera!





Friday, February 6, 2015

Snowy Snow, Mainey Maine


And so it goes
the snowy snow
of this Mainey Maine 
winter


Another world
this quiet white coated world


Swirly drifts
and startling sun bright
. . .



. . . but there is work to be done
to clear a path
from here to there
and there to here



xx

Sunday, January 25, 2015

White Pasture (with a nod to Robert Frost)


I'm going out to brush the snow away


I shan't be gone long

You come, too.

mm?

xx

Friday, January 16, 2015

Cow Cookies


Since we are all-things-cow lately
we made a batch of
gingerbread cow cookies:

the Belted Galloway sort
(the reddish ones, not the black and white Belties.)

Yum

xx



Sunday, January 4, 2015

Newborn Calf


One of the surprises
and joys
of our move to Maine
has been 
the introduction to cows
(Belted Galloways)
through our granddaughter
and 4-H.

Today, a calf was born:


Newborn examination


Weighing

You probably won't be surprised
to learn that my next book
may have some 
cows
in it.

xx