"One Touch Of Nature
Makes The Whole World Kin"
William Shakespeare
From Troilus and Cressida, Act III, Scene III
A week ago this Sunday,
some of the Redwood Psycholgical Association
Executive Board, along with Bob Carlsen,
and direction from Ranger Bob Birkland...
installed Milt's bench
in Annadel State Park
near where the S. Burma
and Warren Richardson trails intersect,
between the large meadow and Lake Ilsanjo...
It was a bittersweet day...
digging down deep
into the clay and rocky soil...
and setting the bench
into solid concrete and stone...
so that passerbys can sit and soak up the beauty
of this special place
where Milt and I had our first date
and many hikes to follow through our years together
in this place that he loved dearly...
When you can...
come and hike into this beauty...
and sit and think upon the quiet,
the seasons that come and go,
and the fleeting moments
of peace that soar on the clouds,
water, and waving grass that surrounds...
While working at home today...
I came down the front stairs
to find this beautiful basket
of Fall bounty...
just waiting for me.
No card, no name,
just round pumpkins
of every color imaginable,
and fresh apples,
punctuated by stalks of corn...
All adding to the
cascade of pumpkins
that now adorn my stairs
for Halloween and Thanksgiving,
magically transforming in a few weeks
for the Christmas Holidays...
I think I know who it was though...
my muse down the street
whom I've never met,
but has inspired me to follow her lead
of beauty each Fall and Winter season...
For she did however, leave a clue...
one lone strand from the majestic Maytan Tree
that graces her front yard...
What heart-felt kindness this is...
enjoying
four good eggs...
and lattes
and spanakopita...
on a cold November morning...
My stepson Orin,
his mother Elizabeth,
passed away at noon
this Tuesday, November 8th...
She was
a beautiful soul who I loved as a sister...
In only a year...
Orin has lost both his parents,
and I have lost another person
who I loved so dearly...
I wrote this poem for her back in August
for Elizabeth loved lemons,
she delighted in so many things...
This is just a snippet of the radient being
that she was,
dancing on this earth...
Lemons,
orbs of sunshine,
slices of tart juiciness
arrayed around your dinner plate
on the table of our feasts
where our love is the main course,
regardless of what holiday or birth day
or moment of occasion that brings our dwindling
table guests to gather…
Laughter always present,
no matter where that table sits
or who remembers
the puckering wedges that
add just the right amount of pizazz
to that bite so sweet…
Lemons
budding, then flowering,
rounding with the moon and setting sun,
like the glow
of your sweet smile
that always warms my heart
and takes my hand
into your own,
this delicious mystery
of time out of time
held in the seeds of
brilliant yellow
joy
that is you...
that if you can
get it in your mouth
and run with it...
all bets are off...
You don't even have to pretend
to be a goode dog...
A year today...
How did this slip
of time catch
me turned inside out,
yet again...
You would love these doggies...
They have a bit of a Harris
quality about them,
especially Rusty...
Sometimes
I see deep into their hazel eyes
and remember...
I walked the old route today
and saw you and Nikki
up ahead...
I called out to you
but you turned
the corner and then it was just me
and the boys
following this path
unknown...
I love you sweet Milton
and miss you with all my heart...
Well...
I went to pick up one...
and came home with two...
and came home with two...
Meet Rusty and Leo
my Aussiedoodle boys...
my Aussiedoodle boys...
Nancy and Steve Smallwood
showed me what true Southern Hospitality was all about...
and gave me back my heart...