Hello, Providence!

I'm writing this on a Sunday afternoon, using a little quiet time to unwind after a rather hectic week.  The conference I attended was interesting and useful, but I also spent a lot of time on my work computer in between sessions and at night, trying to stay caught up so that Monday morning doesn't slap me in the face!  But I did manage to use a longer lunch break to snap some quick photos of downtown Providence.  I absolutely love the "arts district" right by the hotel, especially the windows filled with local art work and some of the beautiful old world architecture. 

 111 Westminster Street, tallest building in downtown Providence, affectionately referred to by locals as the "Superman" building

I've never been to France, but my imagination tells me I'd find similar architecture there.  Isn't this building lovely?

One of the prettiest downtown churches, Grace Episcopal, is undergoing renovation, but I was able to capture this shot without any yellow tape or scaffolding.

Windows and philosophy...a nice combination!

Another great combination...Providence artists displayed in storefronts!

And I simply couldn't resist this photo, after my post last week about Far From the Madding Crowd...

Here's another old church, the Beneficent Church of Christ.  Beneficent--what a lovely word, meaning kindly in action or purpose.  Seems like a fitting name for a church...

I also love that the downtown area is filled with parks and fountains:

Statue on grounds of Johnson and Wales University

This boat, smack dab in the middle of one of the downtown green spaces, reminded me of Longfellow's poem The Secret of the Sea...

  

Ah! what pleasant visions haunt me

As I gaze upon the sea!

All the old romantic legends,

All my dreams, come back to me.

Sails of silk and ropes of sandal,

Such as gleam in ancient lore;

And the singing of the sailors,

And the answer from the shore!

In each sail that skims the horizon,

In each landward-blowing breeze,

I behold that stately galley,

Hear those mournful melodies;

Till my soul is full of longing

For the secret of the sea,

And the heart of the great ocean

Sends a thrilling pulse through me.

I'll be back tomorrow with a few stories about my day trip to Martha's Vineyard.  Until then, have a lovely start to the week.  I bought a small sign in Providence that reads:

It is a good day to have a good day.

Here's to a good day for all of us!

Heading east!

I'm feel very fortunate that I work for an organization that encourages professional development.  I'm heading east for the rest of the week to attend a national conference on stewardship issues.  I am excited about the conference, and also excited that I'm heading east back to Providence, RI.  You might recall I attended a conference there two years ago and fell in love with the city.  I am eager to explore more of the city and see what else I can discover.  I can't wait to share my stories with you next week!  In the meantime here are a few beauties from my garden this evening...

I inherited iris rhizomes from my dad's garden, but they were all a brownish/claret and a deep purple/black color.  Lovely in their own way, but I have been yearning for a little more color.  So last fall I took the plunge and planted a few more iris and I'm loving the results!  Yellow, lilac, and these gorgeous blues.  They remind me of a swirly blue iris that my dad loved, flirtatiously named Gigi.  I haven't been able to locate Gigi but I think these are make a beautiful substitute!

I'm sad I'll miss the peak blooming time of my new iris plants, but hopefully the pink iris will hold back until I return next weekend.  Fortunately one of my peony bushes bloomed earlier than the rest, as I would have been sad to miss their heavenly scent! 

Oh how I love this time of year!  And speaking of time, it's running short....time to finish packing for my (gasp) 5:40 am flight!  I'll be back next week and in the meantime, I hope you find ever new ways to be astonished by life!

Sea Fever

By John Masefield

 

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,

And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by;

And the wheel’s kick and the wind’s song and the white sail’s shaking,

And a grey mist on the sea’s face, and a grey dawn breaking.

 

I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide

Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;

And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,

And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

 

I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,

To the gull’s way and the whale’s way where the wind’s like a whetted knife;

And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,

And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick’s over.

"I intend to astonish you all."

--Bathsheba Everdene, Far From the Madding Crowd

So I wish I had something to pull out of my magician's hat right now that would, truly, astonish you all, but sad to say, I really don't.  I heard this lovely line Saturday night when my husband and I attended the new film adaptation of Far From the Madding Crowd, by Thomas Hardy.  I blush to admit I had never read this classic, and found myself captivated by the gorgeous Devon countryside, stunning cinematography, and how absolutely teeny tiny Carey Mulligan's, who plays the spirited and independent Bathsheba, waist was.  And by teeny tiny I mean it was maybe fifteen inches!!  I felt much better when I did a little investigative research and read it was due to a particularly tight corset that required two assistants to lace her up each day.  Thank you for sharing that tidbit with us non-fifteen inch women, Carey!

I spent some time this weekend thinking about this bold statement that Bathsheba, the heroine of Hardy's novel, asserts to her assembled farm hands as she promises to keep her inherited farm running profitably.  Earlier this weekend I attended a lovely memorial service with my daughter.  Friends and family spoke eloquently, truthfully and with hearts brimming with love and eyes brimming with tears about a wife, mother, sister, friend gone much to soon.

Listening to all the loving words of her heartbroken family, I couldn't help but wonder what would be said about me--do I measure up to the standards I try to hold myself to?   And then a day later, listening to Bathsheba utter that supremely confident acclamation again I wondered, what on earth can I do that would astonish anyone?

Fortunately, I've finally figured it out...it's not my job to astonish anyone.  I hope I occasionally do something that might make someone sit up and take notice but at the end of the day, it should be the other way around, right?  We are here to learn about love and kindness and share those lessons as far as we are able.  And as we work our way through our lessons of love and forbearance, the question becomes what are we astonished by, instead of how astonishing we can become.  

And today's answer is that I am always astonished by all the beauty we can find in the world.  The beauty in a backyard garden, just steps away from the door.  

The beauty in a son's laughter when he shares a joke with you.  The beauty in your mother's voice when you hear her inflection change with joy when she realizes you are the caller.  The beauty in a small child's innocent laughter, and the whisper of your daughter when she says "I love you, Mom".  The beauty in your husband's eyes when he turns, smiles and says "it was a good weekend."  Why yes, it was indeed. 

May today be filled with wonder and astonishment!  And happy June!!

Terra del Fuego...

Oh, the National Spelling Bee...how I love to hear those beautiful and obscure words!  I vividly remember a youth symphony trip in 2000, and how all our students were huddled around the television set in the gift shop of the Cheers Bar in Boston, standing awestruck as speller after speller conquered words we had never even heard of before.  Kudos to last night's winners (a tie!) with these two words:  scherenschnitte and nunatak.  

I always loved participating in our town's elementary school spelling bee.  Funny how some of those words stay with you...Renaissance, restaurant and precipice are three that I remember having to think through carefully before I spelled them. I was always so proud to bring home a Superior rating, but I wish I had instead been able to bring home a lovely painting, like the one below.

This is one of our family's prized possessions--the first place "trophy" handed to my grandfather when he took first place at a spelling bee, over a hundred years ago.  I've always pictured the spelling competition taking place in a small Indiana schoolhouse, surrounded by all the community as the spelling bees were quite the social event back then.  In my mind, I always see the scene as described in Laddie, set in Indiana and written by Gene Stratton Porter in 1913:

"...from that you could call it real spelling.  they spelled from the grammars, hyperbole, synecdoche, and epizeuxis.  They spelled from the physiology, chlorophyll, coccyx, arytenoid, and the names of the bones and nerves, and all the hard words inside you.  They tried the diseases and spelled jaundice, neurasthenia, and tongue-tied.  They tried all the occupations and professions, and went through the stores and spelled all sorts of hardware, china and dry goods...they spelled from the Bible, Nebuchadnezzar, Potiphar, Peleg, Belshazzar, Abimelech and a host of others I never heard the minister preach about.  They spelled epiphany, gaberdine, ichthyology, gewgaw, kaleidoscope and troubadour.  Then Laddie spelled one word two different ways; and the Princess went him one better, for she spelled another three."  

They finally end in a tie as well, with both of them misspelling Terra del Fuego.  Only to learn later that they both tried to let the other one win, as both certainly knew how to spell it!  I am pretty sure I could have spelled Terra del Fuego correctly, but some of those words last night?  Highly doubtful!

Congratulations to the winners, and Grandpa Badger as well!

Poetry in motion...

 

Last weekend was jam packed with all sorts of good things!  Time with my mother and siblings, a chance to converse with nieces and nephews that I don't get to see very often, a fun graduation party, and as an added bonus...a volleyball tournament!  It just so happened that my husband and I were driving through the city where the tournament took place, so we had our first opportunity to see my niece in action.

  

Volleyball Player--

Someone who steps onto the court and

transforms from typical teenage girl, to an

amazing, fierce, and unbelievable firecracker

who refuses to give up.

Characteristics include:

spandex, sweaty face, bruises,

and a look in her eyes 

that says bring it.

What I admire so much about her is her tenacious ferocity...her single minded determination to not give up, not give in.  She has spent the last two years struggling with the physical and emotional repercussions of a truly awful concussion from basketball, but through it all she has hung in there and has never lost her can-do spirit.  Watching her play was a joy--she's beautiful and strong and as I watched her bring everything she had to the game the lyrics of a favorite song of my daughter's kept running through my head.  Yes, she truly was poetry in motion...

There's a whole lot of love in the world today
Going around, it'll come your way
The sun is back and it's gonna stay
Everybody wants some love sometimes
(Poetry in motion)

There's the sound, the feeling everywhere
Reach out and fling, love is in the air
The heart of the song is the life I swear
Everybody needs some love sometimes

Ain't it good to feel this way
Ain't it good to know
Love is back and its gonna stay
Love will bring a toll

Ooh, ooh, ooh, poetry in motion

There's a valley of light from the mountain top
A message of love that'll never stop
To have not to hold is the love you've got
Everybody wants some love sometimes
(Poetry in motion)

Poetry in Motion

So proud of you, my sweet niece! 

 

The world is too much with us; late and soon,

Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;—

Little we see in Nature that is ours;

We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon! 

Sometimes these lines by Wordsworth come to mind when the news of the day seems extra difficult. I went to bed last night with a heavy heart--so many sorrowful stories seem to surround us lately.  A tiny baby, born prematurely, finally gets to come home from the hospital, but her mother is not able to share in the joy of the day, as she has been fatally shot while serving as a police officer in Omaha.  A family in Washington, DC, is murdered in cold blood for a small ransom, leaving two grieving young sons to bear so much pain.  Another family is swept away in a raging Texas river, a family vacation turned to tragedy. 

   

Yesterday my daughter received the sad news that one of her good friend's vibrant and young mother had passed away unexpectedly.  I grieve for this lovely young woman and her family and the void her passing leaves behind.  I have friends and relatives struggling with health concerns, pain, financial worries...the list could go on forever.  And yet, hard as life can be at time, I still choose joy.  I believe we were put on earth to learn as much as we can in our short span of time here about love.  About compassion.  About kindness.  And then, we share our knowledge of the goodness of life with others.  In the end, it's pretty simple, isn't it?  

My orchid is blooming again...for the third time!

Which is why 6 am found me in my robe and garden shoes, capturing a few new garden shots after last night's storm.  I hope you enjoy them, and the poem by Emily Dickinson which seems to mirror my feelings this morning.  May your day be filled with joy, with love, and with kindness.

 If I can stop one heart from breaking,
I shall not live in vain;
If I can ease one life the aching,
Or cool one pain,
Or help one fainting robin
Unto his nest again,
I shall not live in vain. 

 

 

No, dear neighbors and passersby, I have not been turned to stone like Lot's wife.  Nor have I taken to meditation, doing my statue pose in front of my kitchen window.  If you passed by my home this morning and wondered at the silhouette in the window, it was just me, quietly watching my new hanging plant.  

After losing the "battle" yet again last year with nesting birds and expensive hanging plants, I opted for an inexpensive pot of impatiens from Home Depot this year.  I also found this charming wire basket on sale, which dresses up the humble plastic pot.  And as expected, it hadn't been up for more than a few hours before I witnessed the first turf war...two mama cardinals each took up residence on opposite sides of the pot, and after they noticed each other, had a rather alarming duel outside the window!  And while they were flapping and darting at each other, a cozy little sparrow hopped in the basket and made herself at home.  So this morning, I spent a long time quietly watching at the window to see if I could identify the "winner"...every so often the basket would shake so I knew my new tenant was home, but I have yet to figure out if baby cardinals or baby sparrows will grow in the shelter of my front porch basket.  I'll keep you posted!

In the meantime, here are two Emily Dickinson garden poems for your enjoyment.  In case you ever wondered, Emily only gave a very few of her poems titles, so most of them are now either given numbers or categorized into collections by subject.  These are two of her "nature" poems.

 
There is another sky,
Ever serene and fair,
And there is another sunshine,
Though it be darkness there;
Never mind faded forests, Austin,
Never mind silent fields—
Here is a little forest,
Whose leaf is ever green;
Here is a brighter garden,
Where not a frost has been;
In its unfading flowers
I hear the bright bee hum:
Prithee, my brother,
Into my garden come!  

Nature rarer uses yellow

Than another hue;

Saves she all of that for sunsets, —

Prodigal of blue,

Spending scarlet like a woman,

Yellow she affords

Only scantly and selectly,

Like a lover's words.