Blue

Picked 57 pints of blueberries for market tomorrow. Yummers... They are perfect. Sweet. Large. Juicy. Makes my mouth water just to look at 'em.

Also got the eggs, soap, cucumbers, and lemon-poppy seed scones ready.

Can't wait to get back! See you there??

Reentry... or what happens when the woman is gone...

Today is my first day home alone. My friend Diane had flown up to spend a few days with me before we drove to Concord. And then I picked her from another conference up on my way home. I was fortunate enough to have her here another four days. Let me tell you, a Texas gal can become a North Carolina farmer in just hours if her spirit is willing! What fun we had at Camp Matty! I can't wait to tell you all about it...

But first, this is what I have done today:

Swept;
Cleaned the bathroom;
Washed three loads of laundry;
Picked up two bags of trash;
Washed more dishes than I knew I had;
Made four batches of soap;
Froze three gallons of goat milk;
Wrote checks;
Mailed checks (which involved a run to the post office because my stamps are MIA);
Ordered two books with the gift certificates given by week two participants;
Cleaned more trash off the front porch;
Cleaned the cat box;
Cleaned both bird cages;
Made the bed; and,
Cleaned out the refrigerator (bleh).

And the day isn't over yet... Can't tell you why, but I am reminded of this song:



How's your day been? I've missed you!

Ten Good Things

There are ten good things about being home:

10. Bed.
9.   Water.
8.   Eggs.
7.   Goats.
6.   Bathroom.
5.   Dip Dogs.
4.   Waffles.
3.   Home.
2.   Home.
1.   The Mister.

Catch you tomorrow!

Baptism.. of sorts...

This is where I went swimming tonight:

Walden Pond

And, quite frankly, it was a magical moment for me  -- connected with a past that leaves a tangable memory in how all of us live our lives... looking for the simplicity of soul and spirit that gives our lives meaning. We feel the words of Henry Thoreau when he wrote:

A man is rich in proportion to the number of things he can afford to let alone.

So many people are turning to, seeking for, defining what it means to live a life that is simple -- that is, less cluttered with things, stress, hurry, or demands. He asked:

Why should we live with such hurry and waste of life?

In short, why should we waste our lives, our energy, in rushing through our lives instead of savoring each blessed moment?

As I floated on my back, watching the few skiffs of clouds glide across the sky, these words hit home with me. There is too much hurry in life; we want "it" (whatever "it" is) done too soon. Call it our Puritan cultural roots; a life is wasted that is not filled.

Henry observed:

You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment.


There is no value in life except what you choose to place upon it and no happiness in any place except what you bring to it yourself.

My world shifted in those moments as I floated there, in water that was in the 70s with an air temperature of 98-plus. A breeze danced in the trees a long the shore; children and parents, lovers, friends, splashed, dunking in and out of the water. It was as if time had stood still for everyone in that place at that time. We were joined in the pleasure of the moment -- delighting in the wafting waves, the caressing breeze, the gritty pond bottom, and the strata of temperatures in the water.

There are places, moments, in our lives that are sacred and make a change in who we are -- a deep change that we cannot describe to another. As I sit here, head still wet from the pond water, I know that I have found something, a core of who I am, in the quiet moments at the pond. The Mister and I have made many choices these past few years that have set us on a distinct path. I know it is right.





It's Not All Fun... But Then...

My time here in Concord is not a fun trip; I co-direct a National Endowment of Humanties workshop on the Trascendentalists with a retired professor from Villanova. Although I get to see and do some pretty doggone remarkable things, it is, after all, a work gig and not Just For Fun! Today is a case in point.

One of our participants has decided she has bed bugs. No, she doesn't. This Inn is such a lovely place, there is no reason to even begin to think they have such an issue. She did have bug bites on her legs, but, frankly, she is wearing some pretty short shorts (okay, I am embarrassed by them) and is out all hours of the day and night running and walking. I think it is mosquitos.

Long story short, she decided she had to see a doctor Today. So, I ended up driving her to a local PromptCare Clinic where she saw a doctor and was diagnosed with, yeppers, mosquito bites. Of course, all the way there and back she whined about her legs and the itching and her sleepiness from the antihistimine and how sore it was. I wanted to knock her out and not because it would help her...

This meant that I missed the Brook Farm tour and had to run like crazy to pick up lunch for 30 people and meet them at Fruitlands about 50 minutes from where we were. Flying down the highway, I found a shortcut and managed to pick up a delicious lunch and beat the bus to Fruitlands, barely...

After lunch, and after being in more than 97-degrees temperatures, I shot out for Whittier's House. I had been told there were some documents there that I really needed to see, so I rushed to get there. I missed the director by five minutes. I headed to the Haverhill Public Library to Special Collections to see their Whittier collection, but missed them by twenty minutes. Sigh. And, yes, they had the documents I so wanted to see, Just Behind The Locked Door. All the charm in the world would NOT get those doors open. Sigh.

I consoled myself with what was to be an Iced Coffee Frappe from Hodgies. It ended up a chocolate shake, bleh, and I was too far down the road to return it.

When I arrived at the Inn, I had a raspberry-lime rickey (okay, two over an hour), a cool shower, and locked my door. I am NOT lettting the rest of today in. No way.

How has your day been??

Inching Closer... Home Stretch

The Old Manse was home to more significant people than one can count on one hand --- nearly.

Starting out as the home of William Emerson, grandfather to Waldo, it was home for Ezra Ripley after he married William Emerson's widow, young Waldo for a short period of time, and Nathaniel Hawthorne and his  bride Sophia Peabody. Henry Thoreau planted the garden that greeted the Hawthornes when they arrived on their wedding day after a carriage ride from Boston.

It is a magical home!

It also has the distinction of sitting on the edge of the "Battle Road" field where the first shots, as Waldo wrote, "heard round the world" were fired in the first skirmish of the American Revolution.

I love this house and the wonderful people who work there! They treated us to a wonderful visit today and inspired us, once again, with the stories of those who lived there and left a mark on the world.

And, I am ready to go to MY home... sigh... I miss the goats, the dogs, the cats, and even the Mister. And, they all miss the Woman. Isn't it wonderful to matter? 

Another day gone... random thoughts

Today we visited the Civil War exhibit at the Concord Museum and walked to Walden Pond. It felt like home for a few minutes... sweet.. the rain was falling and the pond was nearly deserted. I could hear the brown thrush and the wood peckers.

One thing that surprises me about being here is that, while there isn't sweet tea, folks are as nice as they are down South. Everywhere I go, folks are kind, helpful, and pleasant.

There are enough sugar and artificial sweeteners, cups and stirrers left over from serving bagels every morning that I won't need any for the next year.

I have eaten ice cream from Kimball's Dairy for supper for three nights -- so far my favorite is coffee / Oreo. Holey moley.... I even sucked my shirt where I dripped some. I am so ashamed...

Evenings have been quiet; I have completed six dishcloths and one pair of socks this week. I am starting baby socks now...

The decision to give up TV at the Lazy Bee Farm was a great idea. There is nothing interesting on TV. Boring... and I can't even sleep any more with the TV on. Go figure...

My interest in the Concord Female Charitable Society has been re-ignited. I need just one more thing to do. I really want to write a paper and maybe even a book about them... But, I don't have time... I have another writing project underway and I just don't want to take the time from it right now. Do you think I could give up sleeping???

Did you know Don Henley of the Eagles saved some of the area around Walden Pond? He rocks. Literally.

What did you do today?