I haven’t been on this trail all summer and didn’t plan to walk so far from home today. The trail marks the border between my land and the National Forest and occasionally there are hunters here, but not this early in the season. Today I don’t hear one human sound except my own footsteps and […]
“I lost big trees in the recent wind,” I tell the Finger Lakes Land Trust steward who answers my call. “A mature oak, a sugar maple, a big hickory, and a few red maples. Many ash are broken and badly wounded and they’re already struggling to survive. A few big white pines broke off at […]
“But you’re bound to lose If you let the blues get you scared to feel And I feel like I’m just being born Like a shiny light breaking in a storm There are so many reasons why I love him” Joni Mitchell, “Willy” *** “I wish I could do this for you,” Vic said. “I […]
I groped around in the dark searching for my ringing cell phone. It had to be Vic who was resting downstairs. I turned on a low light and made my way to his side. “What do you need, love?” I asked. “I can’t breathe,” he said. “I need to go to the hospital.” This man […]
I hear my husband Vic’s favorite words when he felt pounded by life. “Sometimes you’re the hammer. Sometimes you’re the anvil.” This week I was the anvil being hammered by viral bronchitis, but I’m not alone and know others going through much harder times. I have friends and sons encouraging and supporting me. I don’t […]
On January 7, thick wet snow fell for the first time this winter. I wasn’t worried. I knew my friend and helper Matt had his eye on the weather. When my husband Vic had lymphoma in 2006, he was too sick to split firewood, so Vic looked for help to take care of our property. […]
A man I’ve known since he was a boy put up his yearly Holiday Star, high in an old Spruce tree near the road. I look forward to this every December. Thank you, Brett Beardslee. In the forest, ferns cling to green along the path and Oaks rule like kings and Queens—White, Red, and Black. […]