Hawthorne Hill by Richard DeRosa Desert Dispatch #2: Remembering and Re-remembering Every spring up on the hill a process of re-remembering inevitably takes place. Bird calls and songs lain dormant all winter need to work their way back to conscious memory. And as the world greens up and comes to life, memory needs to do a few tricks as well. Can’t remember how many times I have been on a walk, noticed a spring flower and then spent a good…
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Up On Hawthorne Hill by Richard DeRosa On Cutting Back This is the time of year when several things cross my mind. I think of those lines in Frost’s wonderful poem, “After-Apple Picking,” where he admits to being “… overtired /Of the great harvest I myself desired.” Not that we are burdened with a “great harvest” up here on the hill, but we do maintain a hefty assortment of gardens, among them two sizable vegetable gardens that meet most of…
Up On Hawthorne Hill by Richard DeRosa Of garlic, onions and majority rule Took down the garlic the other day, trimmed it, and shifted it to trays for winter storage. On the same day tied up the red and yellow onions, and hung them along the barn rafters to cure for a few weeks. These are two of my favorite pastimes up here on the hill. One would assume that such tasks are rather mindless. Not so, at least for…
Up on Hawthorn Hill by Richard DeRosa Life Trails A good friend gave me a book several days ago, convinced that I too would enjoy it: On Trails: An Exploration by Robert Moor. It is wonderful when several pages into a new book one feels right at home and looks forward to the journey. This book is about the journeys that constitute each of our lives. Our lives can be tracked, just as an experienced hunter can track a deer.…
Up on Hawthorn Hill by Richard deRosa Apple picking provides outlet for discussion, reflection This year’s apple harvest on the hill was one of the best, despite several trees having taken a year off. In past years we have dried, canned, frozen and made delicious varieties of apple breads, muffins, etc. Actually, my contribution is working the apple peeler and doing a fair amount of the drying. Sandy is the master baker, freezer, and canner. This year we picked together.…
Up on Hawthorn Hill by Richard deRosa Finding a retreat from totalitarianism We are beginning the process of bedding down most of our gardens for the winter. I am reminded of what Robert Frost so sagely stated in his poem “After Apple-Picking,” that there comes a time when the harvest we so looked forward to has run its course and a new desire has arisen: to step aside, rest up a bit, and move on to other tasks — or…
Up on Hawthorn Hill by Richard deRosa: Quite a week on hill, on road, in air It has been quite a week. Some of it up on the hill, a few days in Maine to pick up our grandson Grant from camp, then a round-trip flight to Oregon to deliver him safely home. The week started with my sitting down in the barn, a tray on my lap into which I was shaving off oregano leaves from stems that had…
Up On Hawthorn Hill Walking unveils a world of hidden wonders Two days ago, after visiting a friend in the village, I walked home, a jaunt of about five miles. I am a walker by nature, but it has been a while since I have taken a walk of any substantial length. Most of our walks around here are two to three miles. That, coupled with working in the gardens and doing chores up here on the hill, usually serves…
Up on Hawthorn Hill Garlic harvest is one of my favorite routines William Cobbett published his classic on gardening, “The English Gardener,” in 1829. I turn to it often not so much for its gardening advice, but for Cobbett’s often curmudgeonly, sometimes philosophical, comments about certain plants and how to go about dealing with them. Interestingly, his section on what he describes as “garlick,” is short and to the point; plant it, dig it up when ready and hang it…