“Our life is a constant journey, from birth to death. The landscape changes, the people change, our needs change, but the train keeps moving. Life is the train, not the station.” – Paulo Coelho Traveling by regional train is such a treat when you’ve been subjected to the indignities of air travel and commuting in…
“Is life too short to be taking this shit, or is life too short to be minding it?” – Violet Weingarten I spent part of the morning walking in the woods, seeking out the quiet reflections on an inky black pond nearby. October makes those reflections particularly brilliant and I wondered at my solitude with…
Everybody needs a changeA chance to check out the newBut you’re the only one to seeThe changes you take yourself through– Stevie Wonder, Don’t You Worry About A Thing In New England, October is the time of tangible, visible change. The world transforms around you in such strikingly obvious ways that even the most inward-facing…
In the dark time of the year. Between melting and freezing The soul’s sap quivers.– T.S. Eliot, Little Gidding There are more famous lines from this poem, but this is the time of sap buckets and lines run between maple trees in New England, so forgive me for straying from the popular. For these are…
“Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.” – Marcel Proust Spring in New England is a tricky thing. We pivot from beautiful warm days to snow squalls and bitter wind, often within a few minutes of each other. But the days grow…
It always happens this way. The leaves start to turn, and suddenly accelerate into a burst of color. Meanwhile, you’re busy with life, knowing the wave is washing over you but not getting out there enough to see it. The rains come, often with wind gusts, and it ends before you really noticed. The alternative…
How did I get on this track? Surely I’d have been better off looking for the best kale salad? But I’m in search of the best fried food. I know where it started. I blame Halifax. I’ve had exceptional fish & chips, and I keep chasing it in restaurants around the northern Atlantic Ocean trying…
“All substance is soon absorbed into nature, all that animates it soon restored to the logos, all trace of them both soon covered over by time.” – Marcus Aurelius I was helping Bodhi down the stairs last night and noticed a set of chickadee tracks in the snow. I thought to myself that they would…
New England is covered in forest today, but it’s a different forest than the one that greeted the first settlers to the region. Back then old growth trees dominated the landscape. And the tallest of these trees were the white pines. White pines were tall and straight and thus highly attractive for ship masts. Surveyors…
Bucket Lists and Daily Life We’re in the mad dash now. Kids in college, new job ramping up, house showing need for repairs, retirement saving, mileage on the cars, Bodhi needing more meds, appliances acting up, stuff accumulating, stuff we seemingly need, stuff we definitely don’t need, should we stay or should we go now?…
