Backyard Living

The Peace of Wild Things

cindy — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 23:59:53 +0000

Living in my backyard has meant learning to listen deeply to the peace of the wild things. Peace seeps into my soul when I see blue herons on our pond, hear the deep bellow of the bull frog, the chirping of the crickets in the high sweet summer grass and watch the glistening stars in the gloaming as the sun rests behind the mountains.

Today, I read this quote from Wendell Berry – he knows.

When despair for the world grows in me and I wake in the night at the least sound in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be, i go and lie down where the wood drake rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds. I come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief. I come into the presence of still water. And I feel above me day-blind stars waiting for their light. For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

Summer in the Backyard?

cindy — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 14:19:39 +0000

One would think that since I called my blog “Backyard Living” that I would do much of my living IN my backyard, especially in the summer. I thought I would . . . yet this summer I seem to be living mostly in my vehicle. Multiple trips to Rochester, Syracuse, Scranton, Binghamton, Fredonia and Buffalo have left me with a serious case of chauffeur syndrome. I don’t know if the DSM recognizes such a syndrome, but I for one believe it should!

Scurry Hurry here comes September!

cindy — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 16:45:37 +0000

The rush is on. As I try to hold on to that blissful summer feeling (the one that says “I can do that later, we’ve got all summer”) I am suddenly faced with the reality that summer is almost over. It’s time to clean out the dressers and closets – sorting things into the three categories: keep; throw away; give away. Each year the same routine . . . charting the growth of the children, always amazed at how much they’ve grown (how can that shirt not fit? He hardly had a chance to wear it?!) Despite the slightly melancholy nostalgia that sweeps over me I am also thrilled by the sight of the newly emptied drawers and closets – so meticulously organized. And I always believe that THIS year, they will stay that way. HA!