—Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Sunday, December 31, 2006
On the Eve of the New Year...
"Hope smiles on the threshold of the year to come, whispering that it will be happier."
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Friday, December 29, 2006
Just what we need...another blog!
But hey, this is a good one! We just started it. Tell all your gardening friends! Check it out at:
http://gardenchat.blogspot.com/
Write something dirty!
http://gardenchat.blogspot.com/
Write something dirty!
Monday, December 25, 2006
Christmas in Uniontown
I have to say, in this, the year of the inflatable front-yard snowglobe, the tastefully restrained decorations in Uniontown are quite charming. The preferred "historically authentic" decorum is fresh greens and a single candle in each window. A few folks couldn't restrain themselves and wrapped white lights around their evergreen garlands, but that's OK; a few with independent streaks on the edges of town put up colored (!) lights. But by and large, it's a very elegant, cheerful display. As for myself, my wreath actually made it onto the door this year, though I don't have candles in the windows. I was about to buy some, but fiscal panic set in before I did.
Here at Brambly Hedge, the presents are wrapped, the pumpkin pies are baked and the sweet potato souffle is ready to go in the oven in the morning. So gentle readers, as the clock is about to strike midnight on Christmas morning, I hope this day brings you things that are good for you, and that your hearts are filled with the peace and joy of the season. Good will to you all, and to all, good night!
Here at Brambly Hedge, the presents are wrapped, the pumpkin pies are baked and the sweet potato souffle is ready to go in the oven in the morning. So gentle readers, as the clock is about to strike midnight on Christmas morning, I hope this day brings you things that are good for you, and that your hearts are filled with the peace and joy of the season. Good will to you all, and to all, good night!
Saturday, December 23, 2006
Such beautiful ornaments!
I've got a nice collection now. It's always nice to unpack them and enjoy the surprises of the ones you forgot. Only had to use a few traditional colored balls to fill in the gaps.
Another view...
We're just about all done getting ready for the holiday here in Uniontown, not that much was done besides put up the tree. The dogs have gotten their Christmas baths. The shopping's all done, just need to wrap. The wreath is still sitting on the porch waiting to get hung on the door. (Last year as I recall, it never did make it onto the door.) Wrap, make the sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie, and I'll be done.
The most beautiful Christmas tree!
...and I've learned it's darned hard to photograph a Christmas tree!
Friday, December 22, 2006
Do you doubt climate change?
It generally seems pretty abstract. Sure, it's warm this December, but some years are colder, some warmer than others. I remember more snow when I was a kid, but then, everything was better when I was a kid!
Here's the reality, though: The National Arbor Day Foundation has just "re-issued" the USDA's plant hardiness zone map, and it shows the real impact of global warming. Here in Carroll County, I've always figured us to be a 6 to 6.5. Now, we're clearly a 7. That's a big difference on a scale of 10.
Look your zone up here. The USDA, too, is revising its map, but hasn't released it yet.
As reported in the New York Times: "Cameron P. Wake, a research associate professor at the Climate Change Research Center at the University of New Hampshire, said that winter temperatures in the Northeast have increased an average of 4.3 degrees over the last 30 years."
It's good news and bad news for us gardeners. On the good side, barring the inevitable cold snap, we can shave a week or two off our earliest safe planting times, and get a week or two more out of the season. And it means we can grow some varieties that previously were too risky.
On the minus side, less cold means more insects overwintering, less successful kill-off of harmful disease-causing bacteria and fungi such as apple scab, and more vigorous growth of invasive species including poison ivy, Japanese honeysuckle and English ivy. For us allergy sufferers, too, it means exponential growth in the release of pollen — 10x as much from ragweed as in the old, cold days.
I've always felt that good, long freezes are critical in our area to keep the plant cycles viable (from a human perspective, to serve our needs, of course) and also to kill off germs that make us sick.
So, we'll see how the rosemary does — that should be a good test. We'll know in the Spring.
Here's the reality, though: The National Arbor Day Foundation has just "re-issued" the USDA's plant hardiness zone map, and it shows the real impact of global warming. Here in Carroll County, I've always figured us to be a 6 to 6.5. Now, we're clearly a 7. That's a big difference on a scale of 10.
Look your zone up here. The USDA, too, is revising its map, but hasn't released it yet.
As reported in the New York Times: "Cameron P. Wake, a research associate professor at the Climate Change Research Center at the University of New Hampshire, said that winter temperatures in the Northeast have increased an average of 4.3 degrees over the last 30 years."
It's good news and bad news for us gardeners. On the good side, barring the inevitable cold snap, we can shave a week or two off our earliest safe planting times, and get a week or two more out of the season. And it means we can grow some varieties that previously were too risky.
On the minus side, less cold means more insects overwintering, less successful kill-off of harmful disease-causing bacteria and fungi such as apple scab, and more vigorous growth of invasive species including poison ivy, Japanese honeysuckle and English ivy. For us allergy sufferers, too, it means exponential growth in the release of pollen — 10x as much from ragweed as in the old, cold days.
I've always felt that good, long freezes are critical in our area to keep the plant cycles viable (from a human perspective, to serve our needs, of course) and also to kill off germs that make us sick.
So, we'll see how the rosemary does — that should be a good test. We'll know in the Spring.
Thursday, December 21, 2006
Does he speak for Iran?
This from the New York Times, reporting on a recent speech by Iran's president at the same university that spawned the revolutionaries who took the hostages in 1979:
"At one point, the head of a moderate student guild complained to Mr. Ahmadinejad that students were being expelled for political activities and given three stars next to their names in university records, barring them from re-entering. The president responded by ridiculing him, joking that the three stars made them sergeants in the army.
"At one point, the head of a moderate student guild complained to Mr. Ahmadinejad that students were being expelled for political activities and given three stars next to their names in university records, barring them from re-entering. The president responded by ridiculing him, joking that the three stars made them sergeants in the army.
The president was eventually forced to cut his speech short and leave. But angry students stormed his car, kicking it and chanting slogans. His convoy of four cars collided several times as they tried to leave in a rush. Eventually the students were dispersed."
Elsewhere, the article quoted students saying nuclear technology was Iran's right, but may not be worth the price. The protests are in response to crack-downs on moderates, reformists and liberals on the campus and elsewhere. Seems like Ahmadinejad has a hard time speaking about anything important without ridiculing something or somebody. If only he were just a figment of the imagination, as he claims the Holocaust is.
Incidentally, one of the slogans the students chanted was "Death to the dictator!" Is death the only option?
Welcome Winter!
It arrives 12/22 at 0:22 GMT; this evening, 12/21 at 7:22 p.m. EST. This from The Writer's Almanac with Garrison Keilor, which/whom you often find quoted here:
"In the northern hemisphere, today is the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year and the longest night. It's officially the first day of winter and one of the oldest known holidays in human history. Anthropologists believe that solstice celebrations go back at least 30,000 years, before humans even began farming on a large scale. Many of the most ancient stone structures made by human beings were designed to pinpoint the precise date of the solstice. The stone circles of Stonehenge were arranged to receive the first rays of midwinter sun.
Ancient peoples believed that because daylight was waning, it might go away forever, so they lit huge bonfires to tempt the sun to come back. The tradition of decorating our houses and our trees with lights at this time of year is passed down from those ancient bonfires."
If you'd like to visit The Writer's Almanac, click the title of this post (there's another good Robert Bly today) or point your browser here:
http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Praising Manners
We should ask God
To help us toward manners. Inner gifts
Do not find their way
To creatures without just respect.
If a man or woman flails about, he not only
Smashes his house,
He burns the whole world down.
Your depression is connected to your insolence
And your refusal to praise.
If a man or woman is
On the path, and refuses to praise — that man or woman
Steals from others every day — in fact is a shoplifter!
The sun became full of light when it got hold of itself.
Angels began shining when they achieved discipline.
The sun goes out whenever the cloud of not-praising comes near.
The moment that foolish angel felt insolent, he heard the door close.
To help us toward manners. Inner gifts
Do not find their way
To creatures without just respect.
If a man or woman flails about, he not only
Smashes his house,
He burns the whole world down.
Your depression is connected to your insolence
And your refusal to praise.
If a man or woman is
On the path, and refuses to praise — that man or woman
Steals from others every day — in fact is a shoplifter!
The sun became full of light when it got hold of itself.
Angels began shining when they achieved discipline.
The sun goes out whenever the cloud of not-praising comes near.
The moment that foolish angel felt insolent, he heard the door close.
—Robert Bly
Monday, December 18, 2006
Do You Have A Prayer?
Ran across this interesting description:
"I've heard various descriptions of how prayer works. Some say God listens, some say our thoughts affect the energy of the universe and create change; some say that we're conditioning ourselves to transform our own attitudes, and that attitudes, good and bad, are contagious. It's a mystery but it does work."
I agree.
"I've heard various descriptions of how prayer works. Some say God listens, some say our thoughts affect the energy of the universe and create change; some say that we're conditioning ourselves to transform our own attitudes, and that attitudes, good and bad, are contagious. It's a mystery but it does work."
I agree.
Sunday, December 17, 2006
Ouch! Did You Have To Tell Us?
"Bush is another president we deserve. He, too, is often accused of betraying Americans — by campaigning as a humble man and governing as something else. But this is also wrong. Bush has governed as he promised to — with the kind of phony-demotic cocksureness that many people like in pickup-truck commercials and think of themselves as embodying. When he let it be known that he didn’t “do nuance,” it was an invitation to say: “Good. Neither do we.” But this banty self-assurance — our self-assurance — appears not such a great trait when it leads you into a bloodbath in Iraq. The feeling circulating since the election is relief — relief that this unflattering mirror is a bit closer to being taken away. It should not surprise us that this feeling is as strong among those who supported the president as among those who did not."
Christopher Caldwell is a contributing writer for the New York Times magazine and a senior editor at The Weekly Standard.
Another Successful Hunt!
Well, daughter unit and I didn’t come close to our record of two years ago — twenty minutes start-to-finish — but in just under an hour this morning we were driving away from Sewell’s Tree Farm with a fine, tall Frasier Fir in the truck. $40, not bad. It’s a little on the narrow side, and mighty tall, over 8’ to be sure, maybe pushing 9. It was a fine morning to be tree-hunting, sunny and crisp but not too cold. Lights go on it tomorrow. Monday, the traditional Chinese food and tree-trimming. I guess there is a tradition or two that endure.
Speaking of tradition, I’ve started my Autumn ritual reading of Faulkner’s The Bear, a little late this year. Year after year, I’m in abject awe of the lambency of that man’s writing. A chronic alcoholic, whose wife tried to commit suicide on their honeymoon (not sure at what point he became an over-drinker, but that was probably enough to get him started!). A man who called the King of Sweden to tell him he wouldn’t be attending the ceremony to receive his Nobel Prize because it was hunting season. Would that I could be so true to my being!
The vocabulary lesson for me from his liquid, seamless flow of pearls:
lambent: 1. playing lightly on or over a surface: flickering 2. softly bright or radiant 3. marked by lightness or brilliance especially of expression. Latin lambent-, lambens, present participle of lambere to lick
abject: 1. sunk to or existing in a low state or condition 2a. cast down in spirit 2b. showing hopelessness or resignation 3. expressing or offered in a humble and often ingratiating spirit . Middle English, from Latin abjectus, from past participle of abicere to cast off, from ab- + jacere to throw
Priam: the father of Hector, Paris, and Cassandra and king of Troy during the Trojan War. Latin Priamus, from Greek Priamos
Speaking of tradition, I’ve started my Autumn ritual reading of Faulkner’s The Bear, a little late this year. Year after year, I’m in abject awe of the lambency of that man’s writing. A chronic alcoholic, whose wife tried to commit suicide on their honeymoon (not sure at what point he became an over-drinker, but that was probably enough to get him started!). A man who called the King of Sweden to tell him he wouldn’t be attending the ceremony to receive his Nobel Prize because it was hunting season. Would that I could be so true to my being!
The vocabulary lesson for me from his liquid, seamless flow of pearls:
lambent: 1. playing lightly on or over a surface: flickering 2. softly bright or radiant 3. marked by lightness or brilliance especially of expression. Latin lambent-, lambens, present participle of lambere to lick
abject: 1. sunk to or existing in a low state or condition
Priam: the father of Hector, Paris, and Cassandra and king of Troy during the Trojan War. Latin Priamus, from Greek Priamos
Saturday, December 16, 2006
Caffe Trieste
I saw the man’s picture
on the post while I waited
in line at the Caffe Trieste.
He would be reading
November first, but I
would be two days gone
by then. Pity.
And while I waited
I witnessed what seemed
to me
to be
a supreme feat of pan
handling, not twenty-five
cents for the bus or
the burger but
five dollars for the
grande cappuccino
(it’s come to this?)
but he promised to pay
her back next week
(did he know her?
perhaps by sight)
and she said if not
the week after was OK
(did she know him?
perhaps by plight)
(I’ve seen so much pan
handling this week
past huddled hordes
with ratty
blankets piled and
tarps and shopping
carts)
And I moved several
places up in line
and looked over
there, next to the
girl with the painted
geisha face and
black hair with a
stick in it or two
and there he was
the man in the photo
bristled white eyebrows
and snow-white goatee
cheeks a bit flushed
(some vision of Christmas?)
nursing a stemmed
glass with a last toast
of shining red wine.
There was wisdom on
his face and in his eyes
and I wanted to ask
if it was really him?
I was happy to find him
and then a bit sad
that this would never
be me
enjoying the spoils
of age and some small
notoriety in a stemmed glass.
Perhaps something frothy
for me instead
(if I’ve not been banned
from even coffee)
and if not recognition
then maybe reminiscence
of something worth reading
out loud. Then
to come home to you, Khanoum
with tales of the characters
I’ve seen
to read out loud to you
again.
29 October 2006
on the post while I waited
in line at the Caffe Trieste.
He would be reading
November first, but I
would be two days gone
by then. Pity.
And while I waited
I witnessed what seemed
to me
to be
a supreme feat of pan
handling, not twenty-five
cents for the bus or
the burger but
five dollars for the
grande cappuccino
(it’s come to this?)
but he promised to pay
her back next week
(did he know her?
perhaps by sight)
and she said if not
the week after was OK
(did she know him?
perhaps by plight)
(I’ve seen so much pan
handling this week
past huddled hordes
with ratty
blankets piled and
tarps and shopping
carts)
And I moved several
places up in line
and looked over
there, next to the
girl with the painted
geisha face and
black hair with a
stick in it or two
and there he was
the man in the photo
bristled white eyebrows
and snow-white goatee
cheeks a bit flushed
(some vision of Christmas?)
nursing a stemmed
glass with a last toast
of shining red wine.
There was wisdom on
his face and in his eyes
and I wanted to ask
if it was really him?
I was happy to find him
and then a bit sad
that this would never
be me
enjoying the spoils
of age and some small
notoriety in a stemmed glass.
Perhaps something frothy
for me instead
(if I’ve not been banned
from even coffee)
and if not recognition
then maybe reminiscence
of something worth reading
out loud. Then
to come home to you, Khanoum
with tales of the characters
I’ve seen
to read out loud to you
again.
29 October 2006
Wait, don't wait!
Two years in the U.S. Senate sure...and a bunch in the Illinois legislature. 4 out of the 5 most recent presidents went to the White House with only state, no national credentials. Conservative media trying to scare America (again)? (And how much experience did our current president have?)
Friday, December 15, 2006
American Values
As if all this holiday consumerism wasn't bad enough, this from the New York Times. Analysis of census data describes college freshmen's reasons for going to college:
"In 1970, 79 percent said their goal was developing a meaningful philosophy of life. By 2005, 75 percent said their primary objective was to be financially very well off."
Not even just well off...very well off. There's a life philosophy for you! And something tells me it's not a uniquely American phenomenon, either.
"In 1970, 79 percent said their goal was developing a meaningful philosophy of life. By 2005, 75 percent said their primary objective was to be financially very well off."
Not even just well off...very well off. There's a life philosophy for you! And something tells me it's not a uniquely American phenomenon, either.
One Year Update
Well here it is a year-plus later since I moved into “Brambly Hedge” in Uniontown. Ai, what a year!
The wall and patio sit unfinished. Memorial Day 2007, that’s the deadline now, with some kind of party to inaugurate it. I’d like to get at least the kitchen painted this winter, maybe a new counter and sink. Upstairs bathroom needs paint, too, but I’m not that optimistic.
It’s still a great house, and a great yard. I finally got the office more-or-less settled. Last week, the seed catalogs started arriving, first Territorial, then a bunch more — one just tomatoes, one just beans!
Definitely: Blueberries. A pair of short and a pair tall, to form the wall and doorway to the far “room” of the yard. I’m thinking maybe two semi-circular beds behind them, maybe one all lavender. A center shape with the angel is pretty much a given. I need to move a couple hydrangeas, boxwoods, and a yucca or two. Lots of rearranging (that’s cheap!). Can’t decide if I have a place for strawberries. Have to get out those initial sketches and dust them off.
And of course, the more I read, the more compelled than ever I feel to grow as much of my own food as possible.
And so Christmas approaches. Going to go cut a tree down tomorrow. The whole damned season is bittersweet (yet again), still another Christmas without a life-mate. I think this is what it’s going to be. Not that it’s bad, but the holidays are a perennial challenge.
Worse this year because of serial trauma. But it will get better. Sorry for the downer. Meantime, there are poems to write, gardens to plan, prayers to make, blessings to count…many, many blessings to count. Count yourself as one, dear reader!
The wall and patio sit unfinished. Memorial Day 2007, that’s the deadline now, with some kind of party to inaugurate it. I’d like to get at least the kitchen painted this winter, maybe a new counter and sink. Upstairs bathroom needs paint, too, but I’m not that optimistic.
It’s still a great house, and a great yard. I finally got the office more-or-less settled. Last week, the seed catalogs started arriving, first Territorial, then a bunch more — one just tomatoes, one just beans!
Definitely: Blueberries. A pair of short and a pair tall, to form the wall and doorway to the far “room” of the yard. I’m thinking maybe two semi-circular beds behind them, maybe one all lavender. A center shape with the angel is pretty much a given. I need to move a couple hydrangeas, boxwoods, and a yucca or two. Lots of rearranging (that’s cheap!). Can’t decide if I have a place for strawberries. Have to get out those initial sketches and dust them off.
And of course, the more I read, the more compelled than ever I feel to grow as much of my own food as possible.
And so Christmas approaches. Going to go cut a tree down tomorrow. The whole damned season is bittersweet (yet again), still another Christmas without a life-mate. I think this is what it’s going to be. Not that it’s bad, but the holidays are a perennial challenge.
Worse this year because of serial trauma. But it will get better. Sorry for the downer. Meantime, there are poems to write, gardens to plan, prayers to make, blessings to count…many, many blessings to count. Count yourself as one, dear reader!
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