An Cailleach Bhearra wandered around back in the 10th century in western Ireland, eating ''seaweed, salmon, and wild garlic'' (my kind of woman), looking for firewood. If the day was bright and sunny, beware--she had gathered plenty of wood and was set for many cold days ahead. If the day was gray, she didn't bother, and she will make the days ...

Our crocuses bloomed today. A tiny horseshoe crab, smaller than my thumbnail, crawled out of the Delaware Bay. The day lilies are rising again, like Phoenixes from the snow's ashes. All of this is more real than the nonsense that passes for discourse in the education world. I can still close my classroom door (though I rarely do) and tackle ...

We're a few weeks away from the crocuses. They know the sun is coming back. I do not know how they know but they do. Soon green fingers will break through the corms. Meanwhile, my clams have settled in for the winter. Not deep, maybe 2 or 3 inches deeper than July, but still deeper, clammed up tight, waiting for the water to warm. Deep for a ...

I tossed some metal into the Atlantic surf for about an hour today. The sun has settled low in the south. Gashes of December light broke through the wintry gray clouds. Even the midday shadows are long now. The chilly brine bathed my feet as I cast. It may be time for boots. The sun sets at 4:29 PM today, as early as it will for the year. The ...

Theology alert--feel free to jump in.... This was inspired by Father Sean and Brother John and the Reverend Scott. Balance. We need balance in our lives. Overwhelmed? Seek balance. An innocuous philosophy--who could possibly be against balance? A madman in the back wildy waves hand--and (again) I get sent out of the ...

Last night we heard a whistle, then a bang; our neighbor saw a flash. I figured someone had launched a bottle rocket, and today Leslie found the evidence near the compost bin, a bright yellow cardboard tube attached to a pink stick As I was walking by the Brussels sprouts, a pair of cabbage moths flitted by--while I've no particular opinion what ...

Today I dug up a couple dozen quahogs, half of which ended up on the table tonight. I also found a gold ring while raking for the clams. Which is worth more? Aside from the nominal $10 fee I pay New Jersey, for the privilege of printing out of piece of paper that keeps me from paying more, the clams cost me nothing but a little ...

If you have never stuck your nose completely into a cherry blossom, a blossom that burst open only a few hours ago, you cannot know the intensity of joy possible by bees, by us. We cannot know what bees know, but we close our minds, our universe, when we presume mechanistic explanations for all animals not human. If I had to choose between words ...

Location: W074 11, N40 48 Daylight March 12: 11 hours, 47 minutes Daylight September 30: 11 hours, 48 minutes. St. Francis and the Sow The bud stands for all things, even for those things that don't flower, for everything flowers from within, of self-blessing; though sometimes it is necessary to reteach a thing its loveliness, to put a ...

Just took this picture a few hours ago. It's a bit chilly at the edge of the Delaware Bay, and the breeze was kicking up to 25 knots, but Leslie and I wandered outside anyway, as we pretty much do whenever we can. Our imaginations are too small for this world. And you're going to enjoy it, even if we have to legislate it. Where's Walt ...