Some clear night like this,
when the stars are all out and shining,
our old dogs will come back to us,
out of the woods, and lead us
along the stone wall to the cove.
There will be foxes, and loons,
and a houseboat floating on the lake.
The trees will lean in, a lantern
swinging over the water, the creaking of oars.
Now we will learn the true names of the stars.
Now we will know what the trees are saying.
There is wood in the stove.
We left the front door open.
Does the farmhouse know
that we're never coming back?

Poem by Gary Lawless. Photo taken by Llyn in October 2010.

These are not Protestant-work-ethic flowers. They loll about in gorgeousness; they live for art; they believe in excess. They are not quite decent, to tell the truth. Neighbors and strangers slow their cars to gawk.

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From The Moment of Peonies, an essay by Jane Kenyon. Photo taken by Llyn in June 2010.

Click the "x" that appears when you hover over a story you want to remove from your stream. Then, select an option from the drop-down menu:
* "Hide this post" will remove the individual post from your stream.
* "Hide all by [person's name]" will remove the post and prevent all future posts from that person.
* "Hide all by [application's name]" will remove the post and prevent all future stories from that application.

Another way to manage this activity is to create Friend Lists to organize your friends on Facebook and create custom privacy settings. You can also use them to filter the stories you see in News Feed. Search "lists" at https://www.facebook.com/help.

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When Your Last Parent Dies
Move up to the top of the ladder.
Looking down over your shoulder you can see
the replicas from your own body crowding the rungs
all the way down. Precarious, you teeter there
on the final step with nothing in your hands
to hold. They grab at emptiness. The glancing
stars are falling all around you. Cosmic dust
stings your eyes. There is no one above you
to encompass the wideness of space. You
are the final clasp that buckles
earth to heaven. Somehow, you
must hold up the ladder, heavy with life.

Interesting about the Mennonite/Amish cookbooks. The only one I ever refer to is the Mennonite Community Cookbook by Mary Emma Showalter - growing up, that was the main cookbook everyone used. It is nostalgic for me, so I don't try it for new recipes, just the ones I baked with then. I also have some of the Food That Schmecks series by Edna Staebler and use her recipe for Angel Food Cake.

Nancy/N2O2T--A raft of dandelions on some railroad tracks near where I live.

Paula/Clementine30 - I miss my chats with my mother ... and her sweet face.

Acuity4u - Also, a special hello from the northern climes!

Jan/Shibadiva, Patsy/Grano9 & Aegbooks - Good to see you all too!

Now, I'm going to try a link! This will have to do for an illustrated post!

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*If I mess the coding, I will delete the repost!