Whan that Aprille ....

Whan that Aprille with his shoures soote
The droghte of Marche hath perced to the roote,
And bathed every veyne in swich licour,
Of which vertu engendred is the flour;
Whan Zephirus eek with his swete breeth
Inspired hath in every holt and heeth
The tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne
Hath in the Ram his halfe cours y-ronne,
And smale fowles maken melodye,
That slepen al the night with open ye,
(So priketh hem nature in hir corages:
Than longen folk to goon on pilgrimages...

- from The Canterbury Tales...
and check out this lively bit!

Sunday Quote - in memory

We shall find peace,
we shall hear angels,
we shall see the sky sparkling with diamonds.

-Anton Chekhov

In memory of Judith Sundloff, valiant, loving, brave.

Lights, heat, power, bliss.

Everything came back at about ten last night... four days and three nights is more than enough deprivation - it was quite miserable and certainly affords one empathy towards those who do not have warmth and shelter and light. It struck all of us that it was just so hard to rally, to sally forth into the day with any kind of spirit, and I cannot imagine how it must be to live in a car or on the street or be in situations that are long term like Katrina survivors or Haitians post Earthquake. It is not just a matter of discomfort, it wears you down, the cold, damp, darkness. But the lights are back, the heat came in at the same time as the sun, the house is being cleaned up and bleached (ugh flooding) and we are just so grateful that our home did not get the damage so many others had. Thank you all for your good thoughts and kind words.

blog break due to storm

A quick update from the library - the "hurricane without a name" as it's being called, hit hard on Saturday and pretty much devastated the area. No power (boy, do I miss heat and lights)and closed roads, a lot of damage everywhere to a rather astonishing degree throughout Westchester County,NY, neighboring Long Island, parts of Ct and NJ as well...
Could have been worse - but they are saying we may be in this boat until the weekend, not so great. Hopefully I will be back sooner than that with better news.

A sure and strange sign it's Spring

Every year for what seems a decade, two geese return to this strange vee of land that would seem absolutely undesirable. It's close to water - about a block away, but it seems fraught with peril - open to prowlers and growlers, no cover, and of course, very little charm. But they return to it every year, and every year when I drive by and see them, my heart sings a little.

Sunday Quote

Sell your cleverness and purchase bewilderment. Cleverness is mere opinion, bewilderment is intuition.

- Rumi

the last of the crazy cakes

This year - doom for the three young men on vacation, boat sunk, stuck on a sugar cookie raft, the only land turns out to be a monstrous kraken and her ravenous babies...ah, yes, they always involve some sort of carnage or mayhem: invading martians, robots with world rule on their agenda, islands of oversized crabs, erupting parasitic critters, volcanos, superheroes, it's been a ride. He's 21 now and the cakes are done, crazier than the themes were the mess of a noncook, nonbaker with a dozen boxes of cake mix, food dye, and canned frosting galore. Happy Birthday, Chris.