I know I’ve posted this picture recently, but it was so perfect for this week’s photo challenge, I had to post it again. I caught this rabbit just as it was in the midst of a jump. Notice how everything else is still in focus, even the rabbit’s hind legs.
On our wanderings through the Connecticut countryside this weekend, we came across many old stone walls, remnants from our agrarian past when early settlers cleared the land of forests in order to do their planting. As they cleared more and more land, they exposed it to the freezing temperatures without the benefit of the natural mulching effect of the fallen leaves. This freezing brought more and more glacial boulders to the surface. The settlers, at first, simply stacked these stones to get them out of their way but then found they could also be useful to form boundaries for ownership or livestock or different crops.
These stone walls were not mortared, so they could not be very tall. Most are only thigh-high. However, because they were not mortared, they have survived, whereas mortared walls have crumbled when the mortar decayed. Most of the stone walls run through forests now as the agrarian economy faded and the fields were once more reclaimed by the trees.
I love to look at these stone walls and think about the people who built them so long ago, back in the eighteenth century. They gave no thought to their efforts being a testimony a couple hundred years later to their hard work and ingenuity. They were simply finding a way to make life work for them given what they had to work with, and yet here, so many years later, I am witness to those efforts.
When my father was dying, I sat with him and we talked about his life. I recounted the time when he built our garage from scratch. I was only about six, but I had a very clear picture of him sitting astride the rafters with his hammer, tanned and shirtless in the summer heat, muscles bulging as he swung that hammer again and again. I thought he was the strongest and most handsome man alive. As I sat at his bedside that day, his last, I told him that every time I returned to our old neighborhood, I looked at that garage and marveled that after more than fifty years, its walls were as straight as when they were first constructed.
“What you have built is still standing, Dad, stronger than ever. What you have built will last.” I was speaking of his family, and we both knew it.
My brother, Dad, and I in front of the garage he built
My brother and I
Life is a balancing act, like the stones in those rock walls. There is no mortar that will hold everything together. We have to choose the right fit, piling one stone atop another, one decision, one accomplishment, one goal, one dream atop another, and hope it all holds together. Just as in those walls, there is never a perfect fit, but there doesn’t have to be because, if enough are placed just right, the rest will hold up. Chinks in the wall are perfectly acceptable. In fact, the chinks, instead of mortar, are what make it strong.
Nearly a year ago, I wrote a post entitled “Star Struck” about the difference between city people and country people. I was reminded of that this weekend while we attended a wedding in the tiny village of Lakeville, Connecticut, in the extreme northwest corner of the state, just three miles from the New York border. Lakeville is surrounded by other little villages with English names like Salisbury and Cornwall that remind you that you are in New England, after all.
The bucolic setting was in such contrast to our hectic pace here in Virginia Beach where I hesitate to venture out in the car after 12 P.M. because of the traffic. In Lakeville the traffic signs signal a more peaceful way of life. 
My husband and I had most of Saturday free before we had to return to the inn for the lakeside ceremony, so we drove through the heavy mist, exploring the neighboring hamlets. We came across a magical setting a few miles away in West Cornwall when we saw an old one-lane covered bridge.
View next to the bridge
The mist turned into drizzle, the drizzle turned into rain, and we ducked into a quaint little coffee shop on the other side of the bridge. It could have been right out of a novel.
A hot cup of Earl Grey tea and a side of bacon tasted special in a place like this.
When the rain let up, we drove to Millerton, a little town on the border of Connecticut and New York.
Millerton is now home to Harney and Sons Tea merchants. Their tea shop is amazing! I know you’ve heard of a wine bar, but have you ever been to a tea bar?
After a hot cup of corn chowder, we headed back to Lakeville and our lovely cottage to get ready for the wedding ceremony and reception that followed.
Sunnyside Cottage at Interlaken Resort
The wedding ceremony took place with this beautiful sight as the backdrop.
My husband and I both agreed on two things: First, we would love to come back to this area and explore it further. It is truly beautiful and quaint and has many interesting craft shops, antique and art stores worth looking into. Second, we could never live here! As stunningly beautiful as it is, the pace of life and the quiet is not something we city folk could have a steady diet of and survive.
I’m driving home to Virginia this morning and thought I’d give you a quick update on my weekend. I can’t manage more than that because it’s difficult to write on my iPad while bouncing along the New Jersey Turnpike at seventy miles per hour (don’t worry—hubby is doing the actual driving, but I have to keep my eyes on the road to make comments along the way).
Anyway, there is good news and bad news. The good news is that I did fit into my dress, and the bulges were mostly hidden behind the cloth napkin on my lap as I consumed more than my fair share of the goodies.
The bad news is that, after working so hard to fit into that dress, I found that all eyes were on the bride. Imagine that!
While browsing through my email this morning, I came across this from Williams-Sonoma: ”Caphalon waffler, $49 plus free shipping, four days only.” Waffles? I’ve always wanted a waffle iron! My mother had one, and I remember her making the batter and adding diced apples and some cinnamon, or she would slice up strawberries to put on top with a little whipped cream for garnish. Sometimes we had breakfast for dinner as she made her waffles and served them alongside little sausages. I WANT THAT WAFFLE IRON!
Excuse me for shouting. It’s just that it’s been years since I’ve had bread of any kind. Okay, it’s been three weeks and two days, but it seems like years. I’ve been following this Paleo diet thing for that long now, wanting to look fantastic in the dress I’m wearing to the wedding we’re attending this weekend. Okay, I’m just wanting to fit into the dress I’m going to wear to the wedding. I’ve at least accomplished that last part. I have managed to lose a total of close to ten pounds, if you consider almost three pounds as being close to ten pounds. My husband, on the other hand, has lost a total of eight pounds. Eight pounds in three weeks! Why do men lose weight faster then women?
I will have to admit this Paleo diet has been good for us. I think I do actually feel better. My husband was very happy with his weight this morning, and he said his clothes are fitting him so much better. I took a good look at him this morning, so handsome in his striped blue pinpoint dress shirt and tie, and realized there really is a change in him. I commented, “You are looking really great, honey!” to which he replied, “It’s all thanks to you.” So it’s a no-go on the waffler.
But I’m going to eat whatever I want during this wedding weekend!
I captured these two young lovers at Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Besides being a tender moment, this picture is ironic in that these two epitomize the exuberance and joy of life amid the gravestones representing the end of life.
Sunday my husband and I went to the Chrysler Museum’s new glass studio to watch a world-class glass artist, Debora Moore, perform her art.
Debora Moore is the one seated
It takes several people and precise timing to help the artist "build" an orchid.
We’ve been meaning to go since it opened and finally found an opportunity yesterday. It was an amazing experience watching her and her helpers compose one of her orchids. We’ve been members of the Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk since we moved here three and a half years ago. Joining was one of the first things we did, because an investment in the arts has always been important to us. When we lived in San Antonio, we were members of the McNay Art Museum, another amazing institution.
Many museums across the country are struggling in this difficult economy. What surprised me is that, in spite of these economic times, the Chrysler decided to stop charging admission, except for its visiting shows, about a year ago. They wanted more people to be able to enjoy the art. When I was a teacher in San Antonio, I took my students on field trips to the McNay. There was no admission charge and Southwest Bell picked up the cost of the buses which made it possible to take these trips. I can’t tell you how many students were in awe of the artwork because they had never been in an art museum before. They couldn’t wait to tell their parents and bring their parents back to the museum so they could show them what had made them so excited. I had grown up going to art museums in New York with my father, so it was incomprehensible to me that so many youngsters had never had the experience of visiting one.
How many of you have art museums in your communities or in communities near you that you’ve been meaning to get to but just haven’t made the time? When was the last time you took your children? If you don’t have any children or they are grown, how many of you know children in your neighborhood who’ve never been on the inside of one of these museums? Maybe you could borrow a kid and introduce him or her to an amazing treasure. If you haven’t been in awhile, maybe you need to put it on your list of important things to do. Art is inspiring, invigorating, soothing, a salve for the soul, but for many it’s just an afterthought. Do yourself a favor and move that thought to the forefront. You’ll wonder why you waited so long!
