We are moving into winter gardening now, our first killing frost last night, a little over a week before Thanksgiving this year in north central Virginia. November rains settling the dead vegetation had seemed only to encourage the flowers and hardy vegetables that continued to greet us with color and friendly bites to eat; it…READ MORE >
When the Earth is Sick
Since the spring flooding in the Missouri/Mississippi watershed, I have been haunted by an image I saw as a televised news flash: a farmer, a clean-cut white man in work clothes, standing on sorely cracked red clay ground. The news story was about flooding, from the picture we were to see that the farmer lost…READ MORE >
My Virtual Coffee House Show
Back in the day, when my friends and I were young and eager to be out sharing poetry and music, the coffeehouse beckoned. Public, legitimate, no age limits, no alcohol licensing requirement, coffee houses in the Chicago area often had a stage as well, many with hours scheduled for drop in performers on the “Open…READ MORE >
In These Times – A Window for Healthy Changes
I remember one day in a Waldorf school in a big city where I worked as a class teacher, finding my way down long hallways and flights of stairs to a basement room, with a door, that held a couch, a bookshelf, and a small table with coffee supplies. A colleague was sitting on the…READ MORE >
SPRING while homebound
The daffodils are in full bloom, and that means it is time to get the garden ready to plant. Some weeks ago Michael tilled leaves into the beds of rich red clay that we are enticing along on the journey to rich brown humus. Then he hauled wheelbarrow load upon wheelbarrow load of compost…READ MORE >
Innovative Saddler in Virginia – Tad Coffin Performance Saddles
A help wanted post on Craigslist piqued my interest. I hadn’t thought of saddle making, but then I didn’t know that not many miles from our place, just west of Ruckersville, Virginia, there was a saddle manufacturing shop. I pictured sewing machines like the oily industrial stitcher in the neighborhood shoe repair shop when I…READ MORE >
spring garden walk
June. Rain. And all our young plants are in the ground, soaking up the water, waiting for the sun. Behind the fence that defines our protected zone, the garden is starting to look organized, beans and potatoes are up, and there have been greens for weeks. Still negotiating with…READ MORE >
Point of View
This young painting, showing the interaction of the colors brown and blue on a white ground, looks like this viewed vertically, with the brown on the left. Rotate the painting 90 degrees; images seen in the painting change. Rotate another 90 degrees. New images appear, old ones disappear. One more turn…READ MORE >
Wednesday, a New Painting Takes Wings
I worked for many years in Waldorf schools, where observations Rudolf Steiner made in the early twentieth century continue to inspire and challenge school communities. Not only the teachers but also the staff, organizational board, parents, students and visitors who come to a Waldorf school quickly feel that something different, and powerful, is happening…READ MORE >
The Hens
Looking back, I see that not all the data was fully in when Michael and I decided to move to Virginia. We had factored in a lot of things as we considered the move, with water and garden spot two important considerations. People, of course. What we hadn’t anticipated was the ticks, the wood ticks…READ MORE >