October 1, 2019
by jenniferpuryear
The grass in my yard crunches underfoot, yellow as straw in some places. Pepper rouses small tornadoes of dust as she chases the squirrels. Yet the trees remain mostly green heading into October – a dry green, a stubborn green – full of vitality even though some few leaves brown early and fall in the heat. Today’s poem by Mary Oliver says exactly what I …
August 26, 2018
by jenniferpuryear
I asked today’s guest writer, Beth Alexander, for a photo to run with her post. “Don’t you think people have seen enough of me lately?” she asked – laughing, half serious. (She and Patti Smallwood have been hard to miss, it’s true, as Swan Ball co-chairs). Maybe you can send a few historical photos, I suggested… The truth is: We can never get enough …
August 20, 2018
by jenniferpuryear
“What kind of dog is she?” asked the friendly woman at the kennel where I take Pepper for Doggy Daycare. She was picking up her dog too. I’ve only been asked about a thousand times, and I never have just the right answer. “She is – a black dog. We tell her all the time that she won the genetic lottery,” I said, smiling, as …
January 14, 2018
by jenniferpuryear
Friends – Don’t miss “I, TONYA,” the most heartbreaking, heart-pulsing, badass, ALL CAPS, affecting movie. It might complicate the way you think about one of the biggest scandals in sports history, and it explains in part how the scruffy tough girl Tonya Harding came so close – and fell so far. Tonya’s having her moment. A better moment, I should say. Sufjan Stevens is out …
December 17, 2017
by jenniferpuryear
I dreamt of a city too strange to be believed. A ship sailed through the sky, a flower docked on the shore, a lion with a mermaid’s tail guarded the bay. Mighty metal Super Trees rose above a garden and wonder domes of light and air. A man held the world in the palm of his hand – but fearsome dragons lurked in the shadows. …
December 10, 2017
by jenniferpuryear
Today’s poem and photos come to you from a city cold and grey and drear – it’s winter here. But there’s Christmas cheer, and the Buddha, and Shinto shrines too. The lights that glow in the Christmas trees and the gingko trees with their yellow leaves made me want to share some of Tokyo with you. Leaves in Tokyo The gingko trees sing bright …
November 27, 2017
by jenniferpuryear
OH DEAR. I’m so sorry, friends, Bacon error! Post launched prematurely. I hope you have a good Monday ahead! xo
November 15, 2017
by jenniferpuryear
I have bad ideas all the time. Some good ones. I have learned humility over the years – and keep learning it anew all the time. But today’s post is not about humility. Or good ideas. It’s about… * * * A Lousy Idea Saucer magnolias launch next spring’s buds – green, fuzzy, and small – while their own leaves yellow, …
November 8, 2017
by jenniferpuryear
It’s possible I’m losing my mind, friends! It’s the leaves. They started whispering their tales – and now they won’t stop. From One Leaf to Another I thought that you were happy. I thought you didn’t mind the way we went about our lives – or should I say the way you went about your life and I lived mine, listening to different songs on the …
October 29, 2017
by jenniferpuryear
Things I Saw On The Way to the Mailbox (Photo essay)… A radiant beauty stared at the lovers and those who wished they were. Friends comforted each other, holding hands when necessary. The old and weary rested near the young. The teenagers hung out and made bad decisions; the mother and father loved their child forever. The yellow mums gave up the ghost while the snowcap …