A FAREWELL TO MARY Tomorrow, I’ll head for the garden store one last time before winter sets in. I’ve discovered a gap, a vacant corner that wants filling with a small shrub, possibly one with color in the fall. Like nature, I abhor a vacuum. A garden should be a place of irration
THOUGHTS ON PRUNING Several years ago, when I gardened on my own, I took a half day workshop on how to prune plants and shrubs and even trees at our local Japanese Garden. What I took away with me was the word “prudhoe” which is probably not how it’s spelled but which means to s
THOUGHTS ON WALDEN POND I never read Henry David Thoreau’s “Walden Pond” when I was in college. The book was part of the curriculum, but I skipped it. At 19 studying the words of a guy who spent his time observing ants didn’t mean much to me. I was absorbing ideas from
EDUCATION IS WASTED ON THE YOUNG A friend dropped by for tea a few days ago. He’s not retired. He came to visit on his lunch hour. I serve as his surrogate mother as his died when he was young. He spends the time bringing me up-to-date on his family —a wife, three daughters (a
Gosh, thank you for those nice words! Was wonderful to have you attend the book reading. Hope you stay in touch. Any questions or comments, I’m glad to oblige. Carolline
RUMINATIONS ON EMILY DICKINSON AND THE WORLD WIDE WEB Many critics note that Emily Dickinson (1830-886) had a preoccupation with death but I’d say privacy was pretty high on her list, as well: The soul selects her own so
THOUGHTS ON CONSPICUOUS CONSUMPTION I read in the news that a billionaire in India has built himself a seven story building which he plans to use as his private residence. My first reaction was, “Wait a minute, isn’t this the same India where “Slum Dog Millionaire” exp
THOUGHTS ON A LONG BLOOMING SEASON My garden this October is in full color, more so than in the spring. Last fall I added some plants that have done well by me as winter approaches. Not only are some of them turning the amber and red colors of the season, but an audacious few have com
THOUGHTS ON CLEOPATRA’S SALAD DAYS On October 3, Julian Slade died. Slade is the man who wrote the music for “Salad Days,” a show which began in the 1950s and was the longest running musical in England until Oliver. I saw the production in London in the early 1960s and &