"The Woods Are Lovely...."

     "The woods are lovely, dark and deep..."
                                 R. Frost
               
    Frost was in the woods in the winter, I know, but these  words  describe the woods in spring and summer too.

    I love walking into a heavily shaded section along a wooded path and feeling the temperature drop and the silence deepen softly where little rays of sun occasionally seep through to the floor of the woods. But darkness pervades and offers respite from the sun and heat.

  Ferns carpet the floor , under an umbrella of green leaves, the silence broken by the occasional woodpecker calling it's mate.  The understory is gently covered with tiny wild flowers, shyly spreading in all directions.

   Today the woodland path I take is permeated with the heady odor of wild roses, probably escapees from some long forgotten garden.  It is a very warm day and this makes the scent almost overwhelming.  The entire landscape is covered with small white flowers which will turn to rose hips once the flowers have faded.

















Eventually, I pass the sunny spot where wild flowers, like red clover, plantain and mugwort grow uninhibited by lawnmower, or weeder.  I notice several "useful herbs" among the vegetation and wonder if perhaps someday, a cure for many of our killing diseases might be found in these plants that most people refer to as weeds.

A walk in the woods is never complete until one finds a brook or stream or a tiny lake.  The water provides a growing spot for the tall reeds where the red-winged black birds love to nest and play. Today the yellow flag, a wild iris that grows in the shallows, is in full bloom and the swans and snowy egret and the geese all vie for attention.

  Heading  home, I walk through my suburban neighborhood and  pretend that all the gardens I pass are part of my "estate."  After all, if I can see them, I can enjoy them.   I love the flowers on this Kousa Dogwood, a small tree I covet but have no room for in my yard.

Eight reasons I walk in the woods:  to exercise, to meditate, to take photos, to observe nature, to offer thanks to the Creator, to visit with a friend, to enjoy silence and to bird-watch.

Do you walk in the woods?  Why?

Walking

  I used to be a runner.  I loved it and found time  in my busy day for a work-out no matter what.  I was running 3-4 times a week and lifting weights 2 x week.  Yoga was my choice the other days.  One day,  not too long after I ran a 1/2 marathon with my daughter,  I woke up and noticed that my joints were screaming one word over and over, 

"Stop!"

    Pain, the  fifth vital sign, had entered my life and wouldn't loosen it's grip on my joints.  So I  sadly said good -bye to running. 

 That's when I became a walker, soon realizing that I could  exercise  nicely, thank you very much, with none of the pain!

  So I traded in my early morning runs for long walks at the beach or in the woods, with or without my best friend.  I discovered that walking is just as meditative as running and now I notice many interesting things I would have missed had I been pounding the pavement.  

  Recently, however,  my lazy human nature has been getting the best of me.  My list of reasons not to go for a walk grew longer and longer.

 1) It's too hot

2) It's too cold

3)  It's too early

4)It's too late

5) I'm hungry

^) I just ate

7)  The dog ate my sneakers

8) I just drank a quart of iced tea

9) It's raining

10) It's snowing

11) It's too humid

12) I have no one to walk with

13)  I have to get to work

14) I just got home from work

15)  I'm too tired

16) I'm too busy

17) I want to relax

18)  I'll just read one more chapter,then I'll go.

   The truth is only #8 holds any water(hee-hee) as an excuse.  So I was delighted to stumble upon a blogger who is also an avid reader and librarian.  She hosts a "Readers Workout" on her blog called  Joy's Book Blog and invites other bookworms who want to join, to post their progress with their exercise program.  I  thought, 

"This is just what I need to kickstart my sneakers into gear. "

 And if I publicly commit, then I'll be more inclined to keep at it.  The idea of exercising with other readers, however remotely, intrigued me.

  So, I am committing to 900 minutes of exercise during the month of June.  I plan to spend most of the time walking but will do two 30 minute strength training sessions a week.  I would like to add in some yoga but will wait until I'm a bit stronger.  Otherwise I'll be doing way more Savasana  than  Downward Dog.  

  

   I went for a long walk yesterday and took some photos along the way. (I LOVE my cell phone)  I'll share them in another post later this week perhaps.

   Are you exercising and if so how do you stay motivated?

    

Fragrant Pink and One Little Friend

                                  "Let the north wind blow,
                                       the south wind too!
                                   Let them spread the aroma
                                      of my garden,
                                      so the one I love
                                      may enter and taste
                                      it's delicious fruits."
                                                                  Song of Songs 4:16

  This week my garden is all about shades of pink and fabulous fragrances.  The roses  and rhodos are in full bloom competing with the peonies for the  honor of most beautiful girl at the party!  What is blooming in your garden?

Glorious Peonies, but only for a week

These peonies were here when I got here in 1979 

Favorite Pink Rhodo lights up a shady spot

Peony Garden still blooming after all these years

Love Rose

Cinco de Mayo just getting warmed up

Carefree Rose, so delicate ,so fragrant

Carefree Rose bud

I'm trying Snapdragons to attract the Hummingbirds this year

I  like to cut peonies for bouquets to keep them from flopping over in the garden

And they  make the house smell wonderful

This Little Friend lives in my garden

Thought for today - Pink is like a tranquilizer for me and a perfect garden color, especially in late May.

So Many Books, So Little Time

    Reading is one of the high pleasures of my life.  I was a bookworm as a child, first  waiting for the bookmobile to arrive on our street, then  losing myself in one wild adventure after  another, traveling to foreign lands and time tripping across the centuries.

     Novels, mysteries, biographies, all were enthralling to me. I sped through an entire series of biographies of famous people, all the series books, like Nancy Drew and Cherry Ames.  When I had exhausted everything I could find, I moved on to young adult books.

   I recall one story still so vivid in my mind.  It was  a novel about a boy who walked across Europe during World War ll to escape from the Nazis.  I wish I knew the title of that book.  It taught me more about the horror of World War II than any history lesson ever did.

    By the time I was twelve or thirteen, I was reading  adult novels like Gone With the Wind , Diary of Anne Frank, Rebecca, Jane Eyre, To Kill a Mockingbird and so many others.

    Later I discovered the pleasures of non-fiction and still later, poetry.

One of the saddest moments in my life was the day I realized that I would never be able to read ALL the books in the world!

  Summer presents the best excuse to find a cool spot and bury myself in a good yarn.  When it's too hot to weed the garden or go hiking or biking, it's a perfect  day for reading.  All I need is a tall glass of herbal iced tea and  a good book and I'm ready to be transported on a mini-vacation.

 My  current book list  for this summer includes :

            * The Marriage Plot  by Jeffrey  Eugenides

            * In The Garden of  Beasts: A Tale of Love, Terror and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin by Eric Larson(currently reading)

            * Wild Blood  by Flannery O'Connor

            * The Art Of Fielding by Chad Harbach
        
            * The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes
     
            * The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht
      
  I also have a list of non-fiction books I'm working my way through for fun and perhaps to learn a little something.  They include:

             * In the Palm of Your Hand by Steve Kowit

             * Pilgrim at Tinker Creek  by Annie Dilliard

             * Urgings of the Heart by Wilkie Au and Noreen Cannon

   I'm always looking for book recommendations.  What have you read recently that you enjoyed?  What are you planning to read this summer? Is the summer a time to read mindless fluff or to tackle something challenging?  I've heard arguments for both.  Leave suggestions in the comment section at the end of this post.

Take away -  I'm planning a trip around the world this summer through the portals of my book shelves.

             

   

Rosemary - The Cable Guy's Favorite Herb

Rosemary has inconspicuous blue flowers in early spring

This rosemary thinks it is on a hillside in Italy

But it's up against a south facing foundation on Long Island

     I never had much luck coaxing rosemary to winter over in my yard.  I usually had to replace it when spring arrived.  No matter where I put it, it would succumb to our up and down temperatures here on Long Island.  I tried taking it into the house in a pot but that never worked either.  I had  no sunny southern exposure  and it always languished all winter and then croaked sometime in March.

     Until one year when I noticed a small speck of dirt against the foundation of the house that faced south and had a slight cut-away, giving protection from two sides.  I figured, "what have I got to lose," and I tucked the rosemary in that corner on a crisp fall day.  It has flourished there ever since, growing every which way and although it is not the most beautiful shrub I've ever seen, it has stayed alive for many years, yielding enough leaves for my own needs and anyone else who wants some and prompting a comment from the cable guy whenever he is working on my wires which are on the house behind the plant.  

"What is that wonderful smelling plant growing on the corner of your foundation?" 

     I dry rosemary and use it in all the usual recipes.  It is especially good with poultry and is a must add to my turkey herbal rub on Thanksgiving.  I use it with garlic and  sage  and a bit of olive oil to rub on a pork roast before putting it into the oven.  

 I especially love to grind some dried rosemary with black pepper, pour a good olive oil over it and serve it for dipping with a good loaf of French or Italian bread.  It also goes in my favorite Christmas yeast bread recipe. (Remind me to post that wonderful recipe at Christmas.)

  Rosemary tea is useful as a hair rinse after shampoo and is especially good for brunettes.  It makes the hair look shiny and feel clean.

  Rosemary is said to be for remembrance , for digestion (read flatulence) and for the pain of arthritis and so it makes a good tea for the elderly.  Pour 8-12 oz. of  boiling water over a teaspoon of rosemary leaves and brew for 10 minutes and strain.  Serve with a bit of honey and lemon.  And it tastes good, so don't wait until you are 'elderly' to try some!

  Like many herbs, there are a few  legends about rosemary.  The most famous is the legend that rosemary flowers were white until  Mary, while fleeing to Egypt with the Christ Child, hung her cloak on a rosemary bush and from that time on, the rosemary bloomed blue.  

  

Today's Take-Away -  If you can find a corner of the garden sheltered in winter, and facing the southern sun, you can grow rosemary.