Friday, April 3, 2026

The calendar says winter is over. I'm hoping it is.

 


  On the sidewalk to the mailbox one morning, I looked down into the teeny tiny blue faces of what I call Johnny-Jump-Ups, or bluets. They are a sure sign that spring is here. 

                Returning from posting mail that morning, I stopped, looked around and noticed that blobs of white dotted the edge of the yard that fronts the street. White irises! All up and down the perimeter—under the sassafras, in the yucca bed, near the redbud, and even down the concrete-block wall that delineates the old driveway.

Also, near my feet was a clump of the white daffodils that I’d moved from the lower yard several years back. Their fragrance was strong––second only to the aroma of hyacinths. I plucked a couple to add to the bouquet on the dining table. They went into the small green vase that’s shaped like the Eiffel Tower. With two sprigs of spirea, voila! Now, when I sit to read or eat, they assail my senses of sight and smell, and I sigh, contented, thankful.

As if that weren’t blessing enough, Sunday, the first day of daylight saving time, I worked outside during the extra hour of daylight planting part of the flat of dianthus (pinks). 

The next day, I planted the others, plus the pot of non-running monkey grass. I might even get back into the southwest corner and tackle more overgrown privet.

            Spring brings many blessings and I have renewed energy to get into the huge yard. So, now, I dedicate at least the evening hour from 6 to 7 to work in the yard. It's the least I can do. And I love doing it. I hope you find blessings in your yard, too.



c 2026, PL dba lovepat press, Benton AR USA

Sunday, January 11, 2026

WHAT I’VE READ IN 2025

 



Dena Gorrell – Lanternes

J. G. Whittier – Snowbound

Faulkner – As I Lay Dying

Winter issue – CALLIOPE

Joan Baril – The Art of Burglary

Adelaide Crapsey – Verse

Raymond Carver – Essays, poems, stories

Jane Hirshfield – Come, Thief

J. Toobin – Pardon

Charlotte DeGregorio – Ripples in Air

Eric Ambler – Here Lies

CALLIOPE – Spring issue

J. Capehart – Yet Here I Am

John Han – Coming Home

C. Cep – Furious Hours

M. Grunwald – We Are Eating the Earth

S. Kierkegaard – Fear & Trembling, and Repetition

Joe May – Ink By the Barrel

CALLIOPE – Summer & Fall issues

Dot Hatfield – Advent Booklet, ‘25

Joyce Vance – Giving Up is Unforgivable

Jonathan Karl – Retribution (carried over to 2026)


c 2026 PL dba lovepat press, Benton AR USA