Thursday, March 25, 2010


Bob buying new cell phone after dropping one in paint and also cat Murphy at his place
Good fortune reigned for uncle John and younger uncle Charles , with Daddy Bob of little Henry boy and Daisy sister , when humdrum school was canceled for the snow and thus arose a chance to play the family way dragging sleds up and down the hill , while Daddy Bob showed off his snow board skill , but really to watch and care for Henry boy and Daisy sister together on the sled hurtling toward a barbed fence but at the last gently stopping short.

When Henry boy complained , " I can hardly make but one more run because my little toes I cannot feel , so Uncle Charles slipped off young Henry's welly boots and rubbed his chilly toes , then sent him sledging one more time with Daisy sister holding tight.

So when the day was done and heading home through deep snow fields and snow ball salvos they reached the short cut home by the church and Uncle John and younger Uncle Charles had surely sewn themselves into the children's memory, forever connected.

Monday, March 22, 2010

Sylvia's garden


Let's take a walk in Sylvia's garden for a moment and follow the path through arches of vines and flowers entering a landscape arranged with scattered groups of once discarded stones, now reclaimed and placed in whimsical patterns amongst an array of trees and shrubs.

Throughout our walk we can share in Sylvia's world and experience for a while living in the moment, moment to moment without regret or expectation .

From the garden we enter the house where the past has been brought to the present and our eyes are bombarded with Sylvia's carefully ordered collections of books, paintings, family photos and heirlooms. Slumping gently into soft furniture we feel the atmosphere of creativity as a crackling fireplace warms our cheeks .

Many words come to mind as we connect with our mood, preserve , reclaim , create,
care and share and our thoughts culminate in the realization of love , meaning , and
purpose

http://www.hundredhouse.co.uk/accomm.htm( See Sylvia's work here

Sunday, March 07, 2010

Henry's house

Brother Henry rules his roost and why not he has run a mini empire consisting of a pub and hotel for forty years and it came so naturally to him when he assigned me the task of chopping kindling wood for the numerous fireplaces around the hotel and bars which depended on wood heat for warmth .He handed out such orders without a hint that there would be any dissent and in fact he would leave rather quickly in order to lessen the chance for any objection .It was just like the old days except now I was 62 and and Henry was 71 but still I felt like the kid brother of long ago when I was 12 and he was 21 .So I dutifully headed off for the wood shed and started chopping sticks from a pile of carpenters waste and then my other brother John showed up and proceeded to load a wheel barrow with logs of compressed saw dust which was the prime burning fuel for the fireplaces .John is the eldest but does not want to admit it and thus attacks any physical task with a kind of gusto that belies his age of 72 .Meanwhile I finished the kindling and helped John fill up another barrow with logs but before I could lift the barrow myself John muscled in front of me and took off toward the house which was Henry's residence close by the pub.Not knowing what to do next I followed John up the path to Yew Tree Cottage and then John noticed that I was behind him and dropping the barrow he turned to me and angrily shouted 'where the hell are you going'. I was completely taken aback and could not muster a reply and feeling even more like a child I turned back towards the pub wondering what was wrong .