Berries

Between the rain and the busyness the past 2 days, I had not gotten out to pick the strawberries. Tonight, I did. The leaves brushed almost up to my knees as I waded into the thicket, chucking those that had begun to rot and plucking those in crimson splendor. I ended up with two gallons, even after tossing the berries in salad and wine and atop ice cream. They went into the freezer, to be made into jam later this season. Peace...

The Music!

I am always slightly cranky before going to a school concert--the crowds, the heat of the gym, the noise--but as soon as the music teacher lifts his baton, the children bring their instruments to their mouths, a magical peace fills the room, my soul.

Peace...

For Judy

I remember more than twenty years ago when I lived in Boston and the phone rang. It was a woman, a girl really, who was in a Master's program in Health Policy at Harvard. She was a pharmacist and had heard of me, also a pharmacist in graduate school, through a mutual friend.

We had talked a few weeks ago about collaborating on a grant proposal. We emailed about having drinks next month at one of our professional meetings, as we do most years. We would meet for an hour to share gossip, to commiserate over the travails of the Ivory Tower, to talk about our 'kids'--my son and daughter, and her two show dogs.

Judy died yesterday in a head-on collision when another car crossed the median. I will miss her sincere laugh, her kindness, her passion for research and scholarship, her red hair noticeable in a crowd. Peace...

Tonight Tastes So Sweet

A long week in a long month in what felt like the longest spring. Tonight, hanging in the hammock, the cool air around me, tastes sweet and deserved. Peace...

Pomp and Circumstance

Tonight I hooded my former doctoral student. She amazes me, her quiet fortitude and persistence. From China, she lives the American dream--highly educated, newly married (to a newly-minted doctorate), a tenure-track position in a up and coming School of Pharmacy, and they just bought their first house.

I learn so much from my students, and from JJ I have learned patience and to never stop striving. Peace...

Sweet Singer

For weeks my daughter has been angsting over her solo in the school musical. She often freezes when onstage with a group, but tonight the director handed her the microphone and she opened the song, with a voice sweet and pure and honest.

Almost made me cry.


Peace...

Day Under the Quilt

Woke up with chills and fatigue so strong I went back to bed after drinking my coffee. I can't remember the last time I took a sick day. Peace...

14 Full of Graces

1. The river birch throws dappled shadows, branches dancing in sunshine.
2. Chinese wisteria corkscrews around the railing, a cacophony of purple and green.
3. Strawberries lush green, fruits budding white.
4. The catbird sings from the Asian pear tree, eyeing the robin's nest.
5. Clusters of currants hang with promise of red.
6. Lilacs, a froth of pink and lavender.
7. The hummingbird whizzes past my head, dive-bombing for nectar.
8. Rhubarb grows hale and hearty.
9. The air smells of cut grass, that fresh chlorophyll smell.
10. Far-off, a chain saw buzzes.
11. Maple seeds whirligig, a flurry of pink and green.
12. Tomato plants in their pots droop from lack of rain.
13. White butterflies flutter around the iris, nature's kites.
14. The hammock swings me in the breeze, clouds pass on their way to the next garden.


***

14 graces for the 14 days of missed posts. Observations from yesterday, a day spent in the garden. Whew! All caught up.

Peace...

Yikes...

So much happening I forgot about this alter-bloggo of mine.

I owe like 8 posts. All that poeming pooped me out. Peace...