Donald spends every day following his cows, led by Maisie, on their approximately one mile circular walk. This is what he does each and every day. Donald is both at home with himself and his life.…
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Hawthorn Hill Journal
Two weeks after I would normally plant next year’s garlic crop, I realized I had completely forgotten. I cannot recall ever forgetting such a staple of our routine up here on the hill. I mean, routine is everything. Fortunately, my source was more than happy to supply me with what I needed.…
If I see an empty spot, I fill it. So what if it is impossible to get to the lone zucchini in the corner (which, by the way, I had to sneak in after being told NOT to plant any) without bushwhacking my way through the bushy, overbearing haricots verts overshadowing a row of lettuce, itself shadowed and obscured by another row of beans.…
Masks are great, especially if one does not wish to contract a possibly fatal or debilitating disease. Normally, masks are worn at costume parties, garb associated with holiday rituals, and often by criminals wishing to conceal their identity. The latter seems reasonable if one wishes to escape capture, although not even that might save one, given the proclivity of most criminals to make a fatal mistake that enables “legitimate” law enforcement officials to eventually corral them.…
Aging out strikes me as extremely relevant when one considers many members of the two houses of Congress. Especially the Senate. A lot of old suits bustling about that chamber. The composition of the House appears to have its fair share of AARP-eligible members as well.…
Predictability is essential to spiritual stability. For most of our history we have been able, despite the execrable behaviors of some, to base our collective lives on certain assumptions. I write here of birds and spring chores because they are part and parcel of what have always been nature’s patterns. We depend on some certainties if we are to function with any degree of stability.…
There is a connection between pea planting and the buffoonery we witness daily in the name of curtailing government spending. There should not be. When Thoreau planted his beans on the banks of Walden Pond, he could go about with a clear head.…
Make sense of this, if you will. How can one individual of clearly dubious character freeze so many into total submission? I know it is not the first time. And it will not be the last. No tyrant ever goes it alone. But what does it say about human nature?…
If on a day’s saunter I neither see nor hear any birds, it is of no matter. There are so many other things to see and sensations to experience. Also, as one of my favorite writers, Scott Russell Sanders, put it some time ago, there is much to gain from staying put.…
As I sit here looking out my window every day, and after reading through what are considered credible news resources most mornings, one cannot help but be struck by the preponderance of incivility just about everywhere. Perhaps my thoughts at this moment are clouded by the dismal view from my study window.…
