Is it my imagination, or has autumn begun unfolding more quickly this year? The yellow of the goldenrod is echoed in leaves turning yellow in the trees above. The miracle of chlorophyll deserting the leaves seems to be progressing quickly. At the start of last week there was just a whiff of fall, but now…
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The Five Kids Bakery in Gilbertsville has been a destination for us since Peter and Aviva took us there last year. It’s not just the wonderful smell that greets you even on the street, it’s the cheerful, friendly owner and his good taste in all the other things he stocks, including the best gnocchi. His…
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Our friends T. and A. live on Donlon Road in Fly Creek, a road less traveled. They’ve been there for a long time, long enough to add onto the old farmhouse they found there when they were young, long enough to create an amazing garden. T. set out from there to her work as a…
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On the lovely walk to Moe pond there were loads of violets along the path. And then a little flower I didn’t know – more magenta than purple. My handy app identified it as fringed polygala, a type of milkwort. So easy – just snap a picture and the app reports back nearly instantly. I…
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Forty five degrees and sunny. The snow has retreated to small shaded islands. Charlie wants a real walk in this warmer weather and his nose is on high alert. The vanishing snow had opened a world of buried scents. Charlie trots along and comes to a sudden halt – something in the air I’m oblivious…
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The word cantata came up in the spelling bee puzzle this morning and it sent me down roads and byroads of memories of my Bach-loving Dad, and especially of Sunday mornings. Dad and I would do the shopping at Daitch Market on Mamaroneck Avenue and we would bring home bagels, cream cheese, lox, smoked whitefish…
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It’s snowing today, the big fat flakes that drift down slowly. Our vocabulary for snow is impoverished. I don’t recognize a lot of kinds of rain, but there are a lot of kinds of snow. These fat flakes are especially pleasing to watch. You can see individual flakes clearly, and they fall so slowly that…
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In the bedroom with six windows on the south wall, three on the west wall, and three big skylights on the south facing slope of the roof, rain takes over. The soft sound fills the room, the warmest and lightest in the house. The rain sheets on the skylights, distorting the view of the treetops. The…
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