I’ve looked at life from both sides now
From win and lose and still somehow
It’s life’s illusions I recall
I really don’t know life at all
~ Joni Mitchell
♫ (Both Sides Now) ♫
looking at life
Author: Barbara Rodgers
independence day parade
It’s HUMID today but we went out to Stonington Borough to see their unique parade. Anyone who wanted to march simply showed up and joined in, but they also had the requisite fife and drum corps, and fire engines, old and new. And what we appreciated very much was that after the parade all participants and viewers gathered in Wadawanuck Park and respectfully listened to a public reading of the Declaration of Independence, nicely highlighting the reason for the festivities. Then the band played again and we all sang the first verse of the Star-Spangled Banner together. It was very moving.
The first picture we took in Old Mystic – the flags are versions of the Revolutionary era flag. The rest of these pictures were taken at the parade in Stonington Borough…
I am having a sciatica flare-up so I was all right while standing, but was having a hard time of it sitting in the car and sitting here now posting this blog, even with my special cushion. Will have to come back for comments only as pain permits for a few days… Today I am very thankful we have air-conditioning!
Happy Independence Day!
Independence Day
A special Thank You to our ancestors who served in the War for Independence:
Capt. Nathaniel Shaw (1717-1800)
Capt. Ezekiel Huntley (1731-1783)
Lt. Francis Shurtleff (1738-1794)
William Shurtleff (1743-1790)
Isaac Weekes (1747-1792)
Eliphalet Hubbard (1748-????)
Benjamin Randolph (????-1810)
Ichabod Tillson (1750-1822)
Ephraim Koyl (1753-1838)
Seth Allen (1755-1838)
William Hamilton (1756-1824)
Samuel Cash (1758-1847)
…and to any and all who remain unknown for now…
beneath the trees
I have a need
For cool, verdant spaces
Beneath the trees
Secret empty places
Nobody knows
So no one will intrude
I have a need for solitude
~ Mary Chapin Carpenter
♫ (I Have a Need for Solitude) ♫
a life story
Gather up your telegrams
Your faded pictures, best laid plans
Books and postcards, 45′s
Every sunset in the sky
Carry with you maps and string, flashlights
Friends who make you sing
And stars to help you find your place
Music, hope and amazing grace
Maybe what we leave
Is nothing but a tangled little mystery
Maybe what we take
Is nothing that has ever had a name
~ Mary Chapin Carpenter
♫ (Your Life Story) ♫
into the forest
Sunday turned out to be the best day for Janet and me to begin exploring Pachaug State Forest, which is the largest one in Connecticut, with a total of 24,000 acres in parts of five towns, including Voluntown, where we began.
We had to adjust to not having signs to identify the trees and plants we were looking at. This place is pretty wild, not like the well-marked arboretum we’re used to!
There were a lot of unusual mushrooms, like the red one with white dots (above) and the huge rust colored ones sticking out of a stump (below)…
of a very tall stump
Next trip Janet is going to introduce me to me kayaking! Wonder if I’ll have to leave my camera on the shore…
wonder in everything
Wonder in everything
No matter how great or small…
Same thing that’s scrawled across the stars
Is written under our skin…
There’s a time to search for understanding
Sometimes you just got to sing
New horizons, new horizon within
~ David Gray
♫ (New Horizons) ♫
books let you travel
That’s the thing about books. They let you travel without moving your feet.
~ Jhumpa Lahiri
(The Namesake)
solstice sunset
This year Tim & I celebrated the summer solstice at home, just the two of us. I spent the day preparing side dishes, potato salad, cucumber salad, etc. Unusual for me as I’m not fond of cooking, but it can be fun once in a while, for something special. There was anticipation in the air because when I went to buy salmon in the morning, the fish guy (a butcher sells meat, who sells fish?) was excited because he had some rare wild white king salmon to offer me! His enthusiasm was contagious and so I bought it.
When Tim came home from work we cooked our dinner together, poached salmon with dill sauce, drank some mead one of his coworkers brewed, and listened to my new summer solstice playlist. The salmon was very good!!! Then we were off to feed the kids’ fish and cat, and then we went to the beach to watch the sunset. Returned home and had some more mead while we watched the movie A Midsummer Night’s Dream by candlelight. ‘Twas a lovely evening!
