Under new leaves my daughter's daughter - newborn crying in my arms That she may walk the Woman's Trail unafraid I name her Rising Moon. by Carol Purington #41 in The Trees Bleed Sweetness: A Tanka Narrative This poem by my friend Carol Purington is from her book of tanka written in the voice of a Native American woman who might have lived in these hills where her family has farmed for more than 200 years. I…
On this Earth Day I don't want to lecture about what we all should be doing to protect the environment. I want to celebrate some of the actions I know about in my community that are being done right now, many of which will grow. I am thrilled with the school gardens that are being planted, tended and harvested. They not only supply food, but many lessons that connect with work in the classroom. Heath school has had its…
The sun was shining when I walked across the Bridge of Flowers last Friday. The Flower Brigade, those devoted volunteers, were raking and weeding. They were nearly done when I arrived and the Bridge looked terrific. Gone were all the wisteria seed pods, and the crocuses were in their glory. The Bridge of Flowers Committee is very busy right now planning the Annual Plant Sale, the season's big fund raiser, and a great opportunity to buy some modestly…
Tonight, on my cable TV show Let's Talk, I am interviewing Mary Ellen Jepsen, Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Buckland Library, about the new addition which is scheduled to open next week. This is a happy day for me because I served as librarian when the building process began in 2004. And it is a happy day for the town which finally has an ADA compliant library that also has much needed room for the…
While the northeast is blanketed in snow and ice, even in Cambridge, Massachusetts, amazing flowers made of glass are blooming at the Harvard Museum of Natural History. In a darkened room on the third floor of the museum, glass cases sparkle, carefully lit to best show off grasses with their seed heads, delicate wildflowers, cocao plant and seed, one of the economically important plants on display, and more familiar flowers like rhododendron, mountain laurel, iris and dahlia. Each…
Saturday dawn cold with another storm promised. I dashed right out to the Greenfield Winterfare to stock up, and I wasn't the only one. Every booth was busy. These young women from Wheatberry Farm and Bakery were selling the wheatberries AND delicious muffins. Ben and Adrie Lester, the founders of Wheatberry are also founders of The Pioneer Valley Heritage Grain CSA. At the Simple Gifts booth I bought lots of roots - and make a shredded vegetable slaw…
The Walking exhibit at the Art Garden in Shelburne Falls has closed but I am carrying the image of this joyful road by Pamela Snow and Ursula Snow with me as I start on the road to the holidays, beginning today when I set up the Silent Auction for Holiday Village at the Charlemont Federated Church. The Silent Auction will have everything up for bid from bags of Donovan's potatoes, blown glass, gorgeous jewels, and passes for the Zoar Outdoor…
Saturday was a big day in Shelburne Falls, home of the Bridge of Flowers. There had been events at the Buckland Shelburne Community Hall for Cider Day but there was also a dedication of the 12 vitreous glass mosaics created by Cynthia Fisher of Big Bang Mosaics in cooperation with students from the elementary and high schools, as well as members of the community. Ten of the 3 x 3 foot mosaics depict iconographic aspects of the ten…
Last Friday night was the premier broadcast of Let's Talk - with Pat Leuchtman on our local cable TV station. I was talking with Lori Pirkot, the owner of Boswell's Books in Shelburne Falls. We had a great time talking about the wonderful books for children that are available this season, many of them by local (ish) authors and illustrators. I think there is no better present for a child than a good book. My grandchildren will tell…
Yesterday, Christopher Petkanas in The New York Times Design Section called Constance Spry a 'Flowering Inferno." I have written about Constance Spry myself in the past, once after interviewing a neighbor, Charlotte Thwing, who has since passed away, but who in her youth worked for Spry in her Madison Avenue shop just before World War II. Petkanas, in talking about a new biography, The Surprising Life of Constance Spry, bySue Shepard, passed on much juicier gossip than I…