Fresh eyes are what we all need from time to time, and this week, hosting my dear teacher-friend from Geneva (while her 19 students are all being hosted by my student’s families), we 
discovered much anew in our daily routine, stuff we don’t even give a second thought to, as, well, something now worth renewed admiration. Take rural mailboxes for example. The string of boxes mounted on a long board about a 1/4 mile down my road represents just how far the mail carrier will come to deliver. This simple fact elicited quite a discussion, even an excursion for photos, and a flurry of excitement afterwards: yes, adventure in the ordinary. Same with the covered bridges that span many of our small waterways here in Vermont. I stop the car and we step out to hear the rush of a high spring river, a chorus of curious crows, and the banter of sweet chickadees, all while investigating the ordinary bridge that we often cross without a thought. But oh my, what a beauty!
Tag Archives: cooking
Spring Dressing
Looking for a quick and tasty dressing for your spring salad? The following recipe is guaranteed to satisfy anyone wanting to top those delicate greens showing up in our grocery stores. Right now I can’t get enough of parsley, sunflower and pea shoots, young spinach and early strawberries on my plate. Along with this fabulous dressing, composed of honey, lemon and flax seed oil, you will have created something sensational!
One Day in the Life of, me, this winter, or, How I Will Survive
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn secretly wrote One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich during the Cold War, and now, decades later, during this unforgiving winter, I am warmed by the sense of dignity and hope he instills in his gulag–bound characters. Not to diminish the suffering of the 5,000,000 prisoners who endured cruelty and hardships under Stalin’s rule, but I too am feeling the burdens of this winter season. Crushing cold, violent storms, grey upon white, and a stretch of days ahead that screech more of the same. Survive? Well yes, I will, but I will certainly steal from the wisdom of Solzhenitsyn to make it through. After all, with day after day of sub-zero weather this winter, we can all feel Siberia in our very bones, right? And we need his words more than ever…
Thankfully my survival depends on my own constructs, and is not predicated on outsmarting corrupt guards in a work camp. I find small promises where I can, like sipping my Sunday morning tea in bed. Hot and black with frothed milk. And yes, snuggled under a down comforter. The raw day can wait…
Nine Cent Girl 