Radiance

This morning when I came downstairs in the dark...

...there was a heap of coals still red-hot in the wood stove. Maggie had banked them last night. It made it very easy to get the fire started.

About 10 minutes after she left to take Seth to an early morning soccer practice, there was a call on my cell phone - Maggie again, "You gotta get outside and check out the light - the sun is just coming up and it is fantastic."  I put on my warm things, and decided to go down to the new conservation area along the river on the north end of town.

The light she had said, it is glowing.  That's how I found it.  I followed some snow shoe prints left from the day before down to the river. In the flood plain these plants stood silent, coated with frost as the sun filtered through the trees from the south side of the river.
 

In the Garden

In the Garden

It’s been a great summer for exploring gardens.  For various 

reasons, our own garden has gone more than a little bit wild 

this year; but one thing I’ve noticed is that even in an untended 

garden, the love that went into the original sewing and planting 

isn’t difficult to discern.

This past weekend we returned from a family vacation, visiting 

with my parents in Asheville, North Carolina.  One of the moments 

I enjoyed most was sitting on their back patio watching the edge 

of evening glide silently across the yard.  Afterward, I stood up to 

take a closer look at the flowers growing in the cool stillness of 

their water garden.  I brought the memory home in this photograph.

~ Hal

Winter's Gifts

Winter's Gifts

Thursdays are my “work-from-home” days. No commute, good coffee,

and (at least when the kids are at school) few interruptions.

One of the side benefits is that it’s easy to pop outside when the

opportunity for a photo presents itself. I was standing at our kitchen

window when I noticed these flowers (bee balm) basking in my

neighbor Eric’s back yard.

It has been a very cold, snowy week and the visual geometry of the

landscape has shifted dramatically. Some days, the cold can really

sap your spirit; but I’ve also noticed that when everyone is wearing

a fluffy white cap it’s not all that hard to spot winter’s gifts.

~ Hal

Bittersweet

Bittersweet

I guess winter is really here. I stepped outside to examine the 

bittersweet growing to the side of our patio and was pelted by sleet.

I love this plant, it reminds me of our wedding. Maggie and her 

mother gathered bittersweet together and then used it in the flower 

arrangements.

On our patio it grows really well. And at this time of the year, 

entwined with honeysuckle, it is by far the brightest thing seen 

from our kitchen window.

~ Hal