A Frost Poem

 I don't know about your weather, but yesterday here in New Jersey showered us with a wintry mix, and gave me license to paraphrase that curmudgeonly old phrase: Not a fit day for man or beast.  Where did it come from?  Find the answer HERE. 

I did go out for a quick walk, but aside from that, it was an indoor day. (A cookie baking day. I can't complain.) Nonetheless, I came across this poem that I had stored up for just such a day, and now I will share it with you. 

Dust of Snow

The way a crow

Shook down on me

The dust of snow

From a hemlock tree

Has given my heart

A change of mood

And saved some part

Of a day I had rued.

  --Robert Frost  

this poem is in the public domain

Many thanks to Karen Edmiston for hosting today's Poetry Friday. She shares a poem and thoughts about kindness.  You can find her post HERE>

Have a good week, everyone!  

Thanksgiving 2022

For the Beauty of the Earth --

"One is constantly reminded of the lavishness and fertility of nature..."  - John Muir

Thanksgiving on the Farm

O, the farm was bright, Thanksgiving morn 

With its stacks of hay and shocks of corn, 

Its pumpkin heaps in the rambling shed, 

And its apples brown and green and red; 

And in the cellar, the winter store, 

In bins that were filled and running o’er 

With all the things that a farm could keep / 

In barrel and bin and goodly heap, 

Hung to the rafters and hid away— 

O the farm was a pleasant place to stay!

And here and there was the Jersey stock, 

The sheep and horses, old Prince and Jock— 

The turkeys and geese and awkward calf 

And the goat that made the children laugh, 

A pair of mules that a friend had sent 

Out to the farm for experiment, 

Pigeons and fowls and a guinea pig, 

Dogs that were small and dogs that were big, 

Chickens that were white and black and gray— 

O the farm was a jolly sight that day.

-- shared from Bernardsville News Nov 23,1922 p 3

Wishing you all a Happy Thanksgiving.

It is a special Thanksgiving Poetry Friday, thanks to our host, Jama Rattigan. She serves up some wonderful Thanksgiving food photos and one hilarious Thanksgiving poem. Be sure to click HERE!

Glimpses of Holiness

Thanks to Fran for hosting our Spiritual Thursday group today, and for providing the prompt. She asks us to write about what is holy.

I believe we all experience glimpses of holiness.  I have written about one holy moment for me, you can find it if you click here.

Frederick Buechner writes about a holy moment:

Two apple branches struck against each other with the limber clack of wood on wood. That was all -- a tick-tock rattle of branches -- but then a fierce lurch of excitement at what was only daybreak, only the smell of summer coming, only starting back again for home, but oh Jesus, he thought, with a great lump in his throat and a crazy grin, it was an agony of gladness and beauty falling wild and soft like rain. Just clack-clack, but praise him, he thought. Praise him.

Perhaps holy moments, like angels, are all around us, if only we could see them. Or perhaps they come just a few times in a lifetime. In any case, they give us a glimpse into another life, a deeper connection. I have felt this "agony of gladness" upon holding a newborn, at the innocence in a child's face, walking in the woods with my husband, while singing in choir, to name a few. 

One of my strongest experiences was during a guided prayer. I was guided to a dry place, and a well, and then silence. In the silence Jesus approached me and put his hand on my shoulder and just stood next to me. I felt a deep sense of connection, of understanding. An agony of peace. Like a brother, he knew me. He accepted me. He stood with me. Praise him.

Photo thanks to my brother, Don Evenson

"Holy, Holy, Holy" was one of my dad's favorite hymns. We sang it often in the Lutheran church as I grew up, and I often think of him when I sing it. And thinking of my childhood and the three holies, a funny thing happened when I was a young child in church. An altar cloth had fancy scrolled lettering embroidered in green, and one Sunday I took the little pencil from the pew pocket and copied them onto a bulletin. It was meant to say Holy Holy Holy, but because of the fancy scroll, and because I was in the fog of childhood, I mistook the H for an R, so I wrote Roly, Roly, Roly. I was pretty proud of myself until I showed my mother. I couldn't figure out why she shook her head and looked away.  The memory still makes me laugh. Surely laughter can be included in holy moments.

Here are some words from that good old hymn, and a list of words that I connect with the idea of holiness.

Holy, Holy, Holy

Only Thou art Holy

Words and feelings

that I connect with 

Holy:

Peaceful

Cleansed

A new creation

Overflowing

Fizzing

Warm

Aglow

Joyful

Blissful

Calm

Unhurried

Loved

Buoyant

Fulfilled

Bubbly

Healthy

Unblemished

Set down right

Assured

Connected

Forgiven

At home

Accepted

At one

Serene

Laughter

I invite you to add to this list.

May your heart be filled with the spirit of holiness.

 If we weren't blind as bats, we might see that life itself is sacramental.

   - Frederick Buechner in Wishful Thinking

Autumn Joy

 Autumn is my favorite time of year. The scorching sun settles down, each day becomes a little easier, and the crisp nights are refreshing. So here, without further ado, is some autumn joy for you!

The poem below came to me via The Writer's Almanac. Barbara Crooker is new to me, but I will surely be looking for more of her poetry. 

And Now it's October

the golden hour of the clock of the year. Everything that can run

to fruit has already done so: round apples, oval plums, bottom-heavy

pears, black walnuts and hickory nuts annealed in their shells,

the woodchuck with his overcoat of fat. Flowers that were once bright

as a box of crayons are now seed heads and thistle down. All the feathery

grasses shine in the slanted light... 

- by Barbara Crooker from Small Rain

find the rest of this poem here.

I can't pass October without celebrating pumpkins. I find them is so compelling. 

Oh, that Jack-O!

Of all the pumpkins in the patch

This one called "Choose ME!"

Tough and bright and jaunty

Bold as it could be

As soon as I cut two eyes and mouth

Seemed Jack-O almost snickered

And I'm sure that rascal winked at me

Each time the candle flickered

© Karen Eastlund

Autumn is beautiful in New Jersey. The colors are still peaking (peeking) and each day I'm thankful for this gorgeous splash of color.

I hope this time of year is lovely where you live also.

Don't miss the Poetry Friday gathering, this week hosted by Jone Rush MacCulloch.  Click the blue link to find more poetry posts:  Jone   Thanks for hosting, Jone!

Wonderful Webs...

 It's almost Halloween, and spooky spiders come to mind. 

I'm somewhat fascinated with spiders and their webs, and I wish I could make something so beautiful overnight.  Just look at these webs.

Thanks to Petra at Pixabay

Thanks to Albrecht Fietz at Pixabay

Thanks to Michael Reichelt at Pixabay

I once found one of these webs with the zigzag pattern just outside a window. I took my entire class of 4-year-olds to see it, even though the window happened to be in the men's bathroom at our church. (Funny, I don't remember how I saw it there. Weird.) Anyway, the spider itself is cool, but the zigzags add another point of interest and mystery. 

I wrote this short poem to a spider web photo posted at Margaret Simon's blog. Thanks, Margaret!  

That moment when...

Around a corner

You snare my face

Such sticky lace

A maze in place

Around a corner

-- Karen Eastlund

Poetry Friday is hosted today by the amazing Matt Forrest Esenwine at Radio, Rhythm & Rhyme

  Check it out!

Community, Braiding Sweetgrass, and music...

 

Thanks to Maureen Ingram for joining our group and hosting this month's gathering of the Spiritual Journey, and for providing the topic of Community as our focus for the month.  You can find her post and the rest of the group here.

I'm currently reading and learning from Braiding Sweetgrass, which is full of wisdom from indigenous tribes, written by Robin Wall Kimmerer. She shares a Thanksgiving Address, a traditional way to begin meetings in the Onondaga Nation. This particular address has been widely shared, and was given by John Stokes and Kanawahientun in 1993: 

Today we have gathered and when we look upon the faces around us, we see that the cycles of life continue.  We have been given the duty to live in balance and harmony with each other and all living things. So now let us bring our minds together as one as we give greetings and thanks to each other as People.  Now our minds are one.

I'm trying to let this address sink in, with its emphasis on balance and harmony. Notice that he speaks not of hopes or dreams, but the duty to live in balance and harmony. Likewise, not only within the human community, but also balance and harmony with all living things. In a few words, John Stokes outlines huge challenges. Lifelong challenges. Still... I believe that we all yearn for balance and harmony. To me these two ideals embody community, and imply a possibility that often seems insurmountable. And yet... and yet I agree that it is our duty to work toward them. I especially admire John Stokes' sense of certainty in the final phrase that affirms community:  Now our minds are one. 

Choir has been a particular source of community for me. We gather and work hard with the goals of balance and harmony. I often come back to music as a balm. And so, today I will leave you with music. 

 Many blessings.

Ode to Cake

 In clearing out extraneous documents from my computer, I came upon this ode written by my grandson when he was 12. It warmed my heart, not to mention the heart of my husband who bakes it. Since I'm very proud of both of them, I knew I wanted to share. This cake is a speciality in our house, made from an old Danish recipe entitled Sand Cake:

Sand Cake (Sandkage)  from Danish Home Baking by Karen Berg

1 cup butter  (2 sticks)
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 2/3 cup wheaten flour
6 eggs, separated, whites beaten until stiff  ( 6 large)
Vanilla

Cream butter & sugar
Stir in egg yolks one at a time
Sift the flour and mix thoroughly
Fold in stiffly beaten egg whites
Line a cake pan with thin paper and fill with batter
Bake in a cool oven (300F) for about 1 hour 20 minutes

Baker's Notes: Not very sweet, but good with coffee. I used a tube pan, it fills about 1/3 and does not raise much at all, not that I expected it to.

This cake can be made gluten free by substituting casava flour mixed 1 to 1 with gluten free oat flour. The photo below is of the gluten free. The wheat version has a finer crumb.

Here's Paul's Poem:

Ode to Marvelous Cake

We love spending time with our grandparents

But surely, you'll have to take

That of our visit cake was the best part

Thus this ode to marvelous cake

Oh, the light, sweet, fluffy interior

The part which is hard to bake

I think you would find superior

To anything but more cake

Sure, the grandparents took us bowling

And will bring us to play in the lake

But really, how does that compare?

To the marvelous, fabulous cake?

 -- P D Eastlund, 2021

With thanks to both my grandson, Paul, and my husband, Chris!  Love you both!!!

The Friday gathering is at Leap of Dave where he's tried an etheree and blogs about finding castles and biking. Thanks for hosting, Dave, and good luck with your year ahead.

Loony

Yesterday I posted about my love of lakes and loons. When we were just starting out as a family, we lived in Minnesota, where loons are the state bird. The more I saw and heard them, the more I became enamored with them. Loony, you might say.

Laura Purdy Salas has written a beautiful book, Secrets of the Loon, which I pulled out yesterday when thinking about loons. No surprise that Laura's poetry is lovely. I especially admire these lines about the unborn chick:

"squeezed inside an olive egg,

bill meets wing meets folded leg"

To learn more about loons, look for Laura's book.  Also, don't miss this great website about loons:  www.loon.org.  

Today I'm sharing some loon poems that I started a few years ago and recently revisited. 

thanks to istockphoto for this image...

Ancient Voices

I listen for loons

For their ancient voices

Eerie and echoing 

Drenching the world with sound

Have you heard them

Wailing in raucous harmony

Shrieking in the moonlight

Yoo-hooing from lake to lake?

Have you heard

Low tender voices

Babbling with spouses

Feeding their young in the morning mist?

Like an earnest chick, I stop to listen

Spellbound, astounded 

I treasure these primal wails --

Surely they bless the north woods

© Karen Eastlund

Image by longacre at Pixabay

You can hear the many calls of loons here:  https://loon.org/the-call-of-the-loon/

Here's a little loon haiku to end the post:

Tuxedoed loons dive

Deep into crystal waters

Sushi bar below

Hooray! It is Poetry Friday...

Many thanks to Molly Hogan for hosting at Nix the Comfort Zone.  She's sharing her own fabulous baseball-related poems. You'll find links to the whole gang at her site.

Enjoy these last weeks of summer!  

Summer Spiritual Journey: Time to Be Still

I'm a lake lover. I love to canoe and watch the wildlife along the shore. Before we had children, my hubby and I would go into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area in northern Minnesota, camping, portaging and canoeing. I still love lake time, but the days of sleeping in a tent on a 1/2 inch pad, and portaging with a Duluth pack on my back, are over.  Now, when I get the chance, a cabin on a lake is the way to go.  

Sometimes we can finagle the whole family to join us for lake time... then we do some hiking, canoeing, exploring. Here are some bits of natural beauty that we found one day. It was fun to gather and arrange, and then put it all back into the woods. Later we had campfire, walked out on the dock and looked at the Milky Way. It is a memory I cherish.

Collection from a hike in the Adirondacks, 2018

The time spent quietly in nature fills my heart and soul. There is no pressure to be on a schedule, to look a certain way, or to perform a task. No traffic snarls. There is just calm and beauty. For me, lake time is time to "Be still and know that I am God."   - Psalm 46:10

The water was cool in September...

For me, a good lake vacation includes loons. I love their magnificent ruby eyes, their elegant tuxedoed bodies, their dignified profile. But most of all I love their eerie calls. I have heard them in the northern lakes in the fall, calling back and forth, wildly raucous deep into the night. I'm convinced they know how to party. And it is sometimes said, in the north woods, that the loon's call signifies that all is well in the woods. 

When I'm on a lake, listening to loons, I do feel that all is well. 

Check out this wonderful website about loons:  www.loon.org

And don't miss the various calls of the loons   https://loon.org/the-call-of-the-loon/

Who can put this feeling to words better than Mary Oliver?  Here is the beginning and end of her Morning Poem... you can find the rest here.

Morning Poem  by Mary Oliver

Every morning
the world
is created.
Under the orange

sticks of the sun
the heaped
ashes of the night
turn into leaves again

and fasten themselves to the high branches ---
and the ponds appear
like black cloth
on which are painted islands

of summer lilies.

...

each pond with its blazing lilies
is a prayer heard and answered
lavishly,
every morning,

whether or not
you have ever dared to be happy,
whether or not
you have ever dared to pray.

***

I wish you the peace of summer, the joy of burbling water, and the sweetness of laughter.

Thanks to Carol Varsalona for hosting today's Spiritual Journey group and for creating and sharing the beautiful image above.  Join her at her blog for some beautiful summer gratitude, and follow the links to other bloggers in the group.

Three Tiny Poems

 Hello All:

I hope your 4th of July was as fun and relaxing as mine. We had a few folks over, grilled brats, played corn hole, made s'mores, had a fire in the fire pit and lit a few sparklers. Woohoo!

I'm getting ready for a busy week. One granddaughter will be visiting and helping me with crafts at our church Vacation Bible School.  It's a fun challenge and my main concern is energy level. Beam me up some extra energy, okay?

I ran into some old acrostics I had written in the margins of a sudoku, and thought I would share since it's that time of year when we like to have meals outdoors.  

My granddaughters' tea party

ANT

 Always a

     Nuisance at

Tea time

-KE

A short acrostic is as far as I can get at the moment.  Haha.  But... here's another...

FLY

Forget about

          Lolling lazily in the

           Yard...a fly will bite!

 - KE

Oh... and this one sprang to mind also:

Fly

Fascinating eyes but

 Lousy table manners,

You must shoo it out!

--KE

 Well, that's it folks. I wish you all some good outdoor time without the bother of these two pests.  I have had few bugs this year, but poison ivy has found me twice. It loves me, but I keep treatments on hand so it doesn't last long.

Yes, it is Poetry Friday, hosted this week by Jan at Book Seed Studio.  You are invited!!! Thanks, Jan.

Surprises

 Weather often surprises me. This morning I awoke to the deep rumble of thunder and the sputtering patter of rain. What a nice way to wake up. I love a gentle storm. 

I'm so thankful for the many surprises of nature: color, shape, texture, sound, temperature, taste, touch. Every day is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Every day a new show unfolds.

Sunsets are some of the best surprises. Their silence makes them easy to miss, but their deep vibrant colors and constant renewal can be awe inspiring. I recently watched one evolve on my way home from a shopping trip, each permutation more stunning than the last. If only I could have taken a video.

Today I offer you a little poem about sunsets. 

Things to do if You are a Sunset

Blush

Sneak in

Put on neon

Delight in feathered flight

Hopscotch from cloud to cloud

Inspect your reflection on water

Flash one last surprise

Dazzle

Fade

- Karen Eastlund

Photo thanks to Don Evenson

I hope you find some dazzling surprises this week, or at least one little surprise. We're enjoying our small harvest of peas. Just six pea plants germinated, but they have produced a nice little harvest of fresh green crunchy sugar snap peas. We pick a few every day or two. Nothing better.

You can find the Poetry Friday gang at Michelle Kogan's.  Thanks for hosting, Michelle.

Image thanks to Linda Mitchell

Celebrating the Little Things

 I can scarcely believe how fast the days go by. Who can keep up? And yet, I have moments of quiet, hours when I don't know what to do next, when I feel at loose ends. I try to take these hours as a gift, to let myself recalibrate, to let go of ongoing worries and just breathe.  Time to pray. 

This year I tried a few vegetables in my garden along with some flowers. Mixed reviews. 

Nasturtiums are still trying to find their place.  My sources suggest full sun, but leaves seem to burn.

One small tomato plant, my only one, had to be removed. I noticed leaves were yellowing, then some creature ate the top off. I pulled it out and planted another tomato in it's place. This time I put a chicken wire cage over it. 

Green beans were also munched in a few spots.  I'm experimenting, covering them with a thin mesh at night, uncovering during daylight. Tiny bugs are eating the leaves. Still, I love the pink of the blossoms and the hope of a few fresh green beans.

Today I celebrate parsley. I love it in scrambled eggs and salads.

Six pea plants grew from the 20 or so seeds that I planted. Germination rate was not great. I'm learning. The peas also are under a chicken wire cage to keep animals from eating them. I'll have a nice little harvest of sugar snap peas in a day or so, and I will celebrate a small victory. Woo hoo!

Below: witness the hope of next year's raspberries. This plant had a rough beginning, but now perks up.   

Thank you, God

for challenges 

for learnings 

for time to plant, write, pray

for future's pink buds

for each runner and vein of green growth

for pungency 

for crunch.

- Karen Eastlund

Thanks to Ramona for hosting today at Pleasures from the Page.

A Bit Crazy

 After 16 days of renovation followed by a weekend with the grandkids (and grand dog) it has been a bit crazy here, but all in a good day. We've had a few days to breathe before this weekend's town-wide yard sale, which I signed up for because we've emptied closets and revisited toys and books and done some weeding. Necessary weeding. Overdue weeding. You know the kind...

The unexpected splash of color with this dumpster supports the fight against breast cancer

Full house! A grand time of games, music, movies, hugs, cookies and pickle wraps!  

Kids love making cookies with Papa Chris... and yes, she is standing on a chair...

What will they remember?

Cookies, no doubt

Chile topped with sour cream

Pickle wraps

Hugging through the scary parts of Harry Potter movies

Grace before meals - who said thy instead of these?

Sleeping three or four in a small room

Night lights

Corn hole

Naming plants in the garden

Piano duets

Endless games of hand and foot

Last hugs on the driveway...

- beginnings of a list poem

by Grandma Karen

Time to prepare for the yard sale.  I wish you could drop by...

Carmela hosts this week's Poetry Friday Roundup... please visit her here to see all the wonderful things happening in the children's poetry community, you won't want to miss her dandelion poem. Thanks so much for hosting, Carmela...