hope ahead...

When our children were small, we often read “Frederick” by Leo Lionni. “Frederick” is a fable about a little field mouse and his friends. All the field mice, but Frederick, work all day and night to collect food for the winter. They don’t understand why Frederick isn’t working too. Frederick explains to them that he is gathering the sun’s rays, colors and words for the long, cold winter ahead. “Aren’t we lucky the seasons are four? Think of a year with one less… or one more.”


So we have “Frederick” days. Instead of storing up for the winter, we store up for the summer. This time of year is when I need my “Frederick” days the most. It is still too hot. I want autumn and I want it now.





I need to remember our cool, wet spring that was such a delight.

I need to remember an unexpected dinner outside during an unexpected cool spell in mid-June. I need to remember nights around the fire.

I need to remember cool mornings at the lake watching the herons and egrets.
I need to remember the cold day watching the sandhill cranes last winter.

As I write this, the breeze is picking up. Clouds are forming. The temperature is dropping ever so slightly. Hope ahead…

Edited: Wind brought in a beautiful evening! We ate dinner outside and it was perfect. Hope, indeed.

thank you, Mom...

In honor of Mother's Day on Sunday, I would like to take a moment to talk about one of the many gifts from my mother. Unfortunately, I did not inherit her nose but I did inherit her love of reading. She and my dad were both readers, passing that down to all three of their children. All her grandchildren are readers too.

My childhood was filled with fairy tales, Louisa May Alcott, Nancy Drew and any good story I could get my hands on. When I was eleven years old, I felt that I had read every book in the children's section of our small local library. My mother was the one who got me special permission to check out books from the entire library. It was a new world to me. I discovered Victoria Holt, Leon Uris, Irving Stone and John Steinbeck.

When I was in 8th grade, there was a bookfair at school. My mother had given me money to buy a book. I decided the best way to go was to buy the biggest book available, thus getting the most for my money. That book turned out to be "Hawaii" by James Michener. I read and reread that book so many times. It was a paperback version that fell apart many years ago but I am so grateful that my skewed logic lead me to one of my favorite authors.

Mom and I still share our love of reading with each other. She arranged for us to hear Nancy E. Turner and Kristie Miller speak about the process of writing and their books. We swap books back and forth. We both make good use of the library.

"I would be most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves." Anna Quindlen

Thank you, Mom.

1/200, f/3.5, ISO3200, 50mm