Personal Best

I love the sport of Cross Country Running (more commonly referred to as X-C.) It's like life, both solitary and communal. You're a member of a team but you are also running your own race. I'm so happy two of my boys have gotten into it. Our area's District Championships were held last Friday and son H did a wonderful job, finishing high overall but more importantly, achieving his own personal best! We are all really proud of H's hard work, talent and dedication!

Here comes the thundering horde!

Fleet feet flying past

Me being a typical X-C mom, hugging the ropes...

Proud Dad congratulating H!

Cooling down with teammates

Coach was pleased with H's performance!

It was a great day! Congratulations H!

First Fire

the first fall fire:
its muffled roaring and hiss
suddenly remembered

THANKS GIVING

I can no other answer make but thanks,
And thanks, and ever thanks...

--Sebastian, Twelfth Night, Act 3, scene 3

William Shakespeare

HAVE A WONDERFUL THANKSGIVING!

Wistful

cold bright autumn day -
the last leaves float to the ground
like lost promises

This is for Haiku Bones, a new weekly haiku meme created by me and my brother Bruce, and its inaugural prompt: wistful...Please feel free to join in the haiku happening!

November Table

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Autumn Meadow

Autumn meadow
with painter and sheep (it's Beaver Farm a few weeks ago, of course!) That's Dianne Morrow painting the old ram, Elvis.

To Autumn
by William Blake

O Autumn, Laden with fruit, and stain’d
With the blood of the grape, pass not, but sit
Beneath my shady roof; there thou may’st rest,
And tune thy jolly voice to my fresh pipe,
And all the daughters of the year shall dance!
Sing now the lusty song of fruits and flowers.

The narrow bud opens her beauties to
The sun, and love runs in her thrilling veins;
Blossoms hang round the brows of Morning, and
Flourish down the bright cheek of modest Eve,
Till clust’ring Summer breaks forth into singing,
And feather’d clouds strew flowers round her head.

The spirits of the air live in the smells
Of fruit; and Joy, with pinions light, roves round
The gardens, or sits singing in the trees.’
Thus sang the jolly Autumn as he sat,
Then rose, girded himself, and o’er the bleak
Hills fled from our sight; but left his golden load.

Autumn Leaves

Viewing Autumn Leaves

This bright treasure
scattered with a generous hand-
I bow and reach

LIT UP

Far hill, sun struck gold
a land of peace and plenty-
my boots in cold mud

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I am thrilled to add three family members' blogs to my Friends and Family Blogroll:

KiteHorse

More Creative Life

A Honeymoon to Remember

Perhaps there is a gene that predisposes people to enjoy blogging?

DIVISION CHAMPIONS!
Young H's soccer team, coached by Paul, just won their league's division championship yesterday! It was a hard-fought game with beautiful team work exhibited by both sides. Our team scored the winning goal in the second half of overtime (!!!!) and I could just feel my hair going gray from anxiety as the minutes mounted. But what unrestrained joy when the whistle blew!

Not untinged with sadness on my part, for the defeated team. I have some great shots of both sides displaying incredible intensity, absolutely playing their hearts out. To come so close to the championship and then lose by a hair...oh man. However, I know this viewpoint is not "right" somehow, and that I am obviously just not a sports person. Except that I do like taking sports photos . And I am thrilled for my guys! Congratulations Patriots!

NEIGHBORHOOD BEAUTY
My entire neighborhood seems to be in the middle of a long, slow, leafy fireworks display. I just cannot believe how beautiful the trees are this year, how intense and varied. And are they usually still flaming so brightly this late into November? This unretouched beauty was seen on my walk this morning.

VOTING DAY
Lots of signs, placards and slogans outside the polling place, but when I walked inside I was asked to remove a small political button I was wearing on my jacket. This seemed a bit odd, perhaps even unconstitutional, but I wasn't in the mood for a big brouhaha. I rolled my eyes, removed the button, and then voted. Which, after all, was the main point!

I LOVE
the way this little tree looks like it is finally getting its turn on the playground carousel. Now that all the big kids are in school!

OFFERING TO THE GODDESS
From an Introduction to Drawing class this morning. I had affixed the cast head of Athena to the wall for my class to get a little practice in portrait drawing proportions and after they had practiced on her for a while (they did beautifully!) then I set up the fruits and gourds for a different, more organic type of drawing exercise. It's funny how it ended up looking like a sacramental offering!

Athena is the Goddess of of Wisdom, so it would not be entirely inappropriate for a drawing instructor to make her an offering, would it? She is also the patron Goddess of Craftsmen and Artisans, so maybe I should lend her to my husband Paul to hang up in his furniture design shop!

AUTUMN COLOR
doesn't only mean gold and red. Today it was my turn to go out to the farm and collect my CSA group's weekly boxes of produce (and incredibly delicious cider!) As an added bonus, the person who drives out gets to pick a bouquet from the Cut-Your-Own patch. At this time of year it is mostly all Cosmos, in gorgeous hot pink and magenta.

GLUTEN FREE PUPPYDOG
Never thought I'd see a sign for gluten-free cookies outside our local French bakery! C'est vraiment incroyable! What can this mean for la cuisine française!?

It was a golden autumn morning in our little town. Normally, being a late riser, I would never have seen it this early, but young H signed us up to sell popcorn for his Scout troop and we got the first-thing-in-the-morning shift. Turned out to be very pleasant. Of course, I had to go home afterward and take a nap! (Still recovering from bronchitis.)

AT THE SPECTACLE OF

water running down,
hurling itself wildly down-
heads and hearts lift up

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Apologies for the gap in posts. It was an enormous effort to get my paintings off to New York and down to Philadelphia in time for their respective show deadlines (see post below or go to my news blog for more details) followed instantaneously by a long (10 hour) drive north to New Hampshire, visiting with family and reveling in all the craggy glory of that landscape. Then home again, to pack Henry's trunk and other necessaries for boarding school, where we delivered him today. I might as well mention that we also had house guests, simultaneous with much of this. As soon as we got home from taking Henry to school, Paul went off to play soccer and I fell down on the couch in a stupor. We all handle the feeling of depleted exhaustion differently I guess!

EARLY MORNING GLORY

Moist chill in the air
sunrise bee clambers stiffly
from her morning bed

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Taken about a month and a half ago. We had an unusually warm autumn, but now the flowers are gone.

AUTUMN WIND

Light dies: suddenly
a howling dragon flings branches-
leaves, hair in my eyes

EVENING GLOW ON THE HUDSON RIVER

I, the merest speck,
peer through a small glass eye, see
the large world glowing.

Yesterday was the artist's reception for a show I am currently in at Sherry French Gallery in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York City. A beautiful day and here is the stunning view from the gallery's windows. For more info on that show, click here.

NIGHT DELI

Passing in the dark
a quick glance rivets my eye
to the lighted shrine