Savoring 2014

As 2014 winds down, I am savoring my favorite memories of the year - for every month and then some aspects of continuity across the months of the year.

January

The year started out particularly cold. The high points of the month were photographing ice crystals while I waiting for my daughter to finish up the last sessions of a conference (and yes - I am savoring her January visit too!).

February

February was the month I rediscovered the joy of microscopy. I took the 40 year old microscope out of its wooden case and began looking at insect wings, onion skins, and feathers. It was a time to stay warm inside and savor the continuous interest over a lot of years.

March

It was our first time to enjoy The Philadelphia Flower Show. I savor the memory of the day because it was full of spring color weeks before the outdoors was warm enough flowers. I also savor the super gardening gloves I bought from one of the vendors which I wore frequently over the summer and into the fall.

April

Seeing the cherry blossoms are a spring tradition for us in the Washington DC area. I enjoy them every year!

I went to Dallas last April and saw the Klyde Warren Park in downtown for the first time. This may become something I want to do every time I go to the area!

Looking back through my notes for April - I remembered seeing the Wood Frogs, and am remember them as a sight and sound of spring as well.

May

Every May, I keep a special lookout for fiddleheads and Jack-in-the-Pulpits. 2014 was not a disappointment. There were plenty to see!

Longwood Gardens is beautiful in the spring as well. I particularly enjoyed the tulips; they are always flowers I want to see in profusion.

Last May was my first experience with Letchworth Falls State Park in New York. Now that I am thinking about it again - I want to go back!

June

This was our first year to see the lotuses blooming at the Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens.

The dragonflies were an added photographic opportunity of the place.

July

Mid-summer is an excellent time for enjoying fireworks! Some years they are rained out or we miss them .... but this year the weather was great, we found a good vantage point at the last minute and enjoyed the display.

I also made a trip to Dallas just in time to catch the Naked Lady Lilies blooming in my parents' garden.

August

While I was in Dallas, we walked around a small lake near my parents' several times and observed a swan family - with one cygnet that was almost as large as the parents.

There were also a profusion of sunflowers in Dallas and I now have seeds from those plants to grow some of my own next spring/summer.

September

September was a good month to walk around the Maryland side of the Great Falls of the Potomac. Lots of water coming over the rocks. Maybe we'll go again sometime this winter.

October

At the beginning of the month I was in Newport, RI with one of my sisters - touring mansions and gardens...walking the cliff walk. Great memories.

November

Chincoteague and Blackwater Wildlife Refuge are some favorite fall destinations for us. This year we were a tad early for the winter birds but there were lots of herons and gulls that made photography worthwhile.

Catoctin/Cunningham Falls was another fall destination - for foliage and shelf fungus!

December

December has been full of things to savor - the poinsettias, solstice hike, decorations, pomegranates and the US Botanic Garden. I'm going to skip adding pictures since they are too numerous (and still very fresh in memory).

Themes

There are themes for the year too that I'm savoring:

• The sweet potato I grew in a trough pot from January to October. The leaves were good as salad greens...and the sweet potatoes were baked then eaten with butter and cinnamon.
• All the Coursera courses I took. I was looking back through the list and trying to decide if I had a favorite. There are ones that were thought provoking...others that caused me to change the way I do things...others that were just a joy to learn.
• Visiting Brookside Gardens. I go there frequently and savor the parts that are available while renovations are occurring.
• Being a Volunteer Naturalist for the Howard Country Conservancy. It is a thrill to lead nature hikes for elementary school field trips.
• Community Supported Agriculture. 2014 was my first season to belong to a CSA from June-October and I'll probably continue for as long as there is a CSA near where I live.

That's it for the trip down memory lane for 2014. I enjoyed it....but anticipate 2015 will hold just a much that I'll be savoring next year on December 31st.

US Botanic Garden in December 2014 - Part I

We made our annual holiday trek down to the US Botanic Garden in Washington DC on the last Sunday of the year. Their holiday display includes models of Washington area monuments constructed of natural materials such as pine cone scales, willows branches, grape vine tendrils and acorn caps. The slide show below shows 6 of the models. Some things to note: the dome of the Jefferson Memorial Is some kind of guard with the stem still attached (1); the Smithsonian Castle is very ornate (2) so I included a close up of the right side to show the stick-bark-seed construction (3); the National Museum of the American Indian is made mostly of shelf fungus (4); and the US Botanic Garden glows from within (5); the capitol is one of the larger models (and it doesn’t have scaffolding around the dome as the real one does right now) (6); and the Supreme Court building (7) is very ornate so I included a close up of the columns that were just as ornate and more colorful than the actual building (8).

The other part of the holiday display involves model trains. The structures to the side of the tracks change every year. This year it was light houses. The winding path through the exhibit was packed with people that had stood in line for over an hour to get in - many with young children. But the wait was worth it. The child in front of us had a ‘Thomas’ lunch box and was very excited to see the trains. The older couple behind us had visited many of the lighthouses and were surprised at how many of the models they recognized. These models are built of natural materials like the monuments. A good time was had by all!

 

Posts from previous holiday displays:

• 2011
•  2013 (part I, part II, part III) 

Ten Days of Little Celebrations - December 2014

Noticing something worth celebration each day is an easy thing for me to do. The habit of writing it down reminds me to be grateful for these and a myriad of other things in my life. This month has been full of ‘little celebrations’ - as had been the usual for the past few months. Here are my top 10 for December 2014.

Christmas

Christmas Decorations - at home and other places. I like Christmas decoration - my own and others. Over the years I have enjoyed the less glitzy ones the most: the clove studded fruit, the fresh greens, and poinsettias…but in the end, I really enjoy the whole look of the season. It’s a celebration that always ends the year on an up beat!

The Snowman. I like the music and the visuals of the film. Every year it is an integral part of our celebration of the season.

Food

Apple Cherry Crisp. Yum. I love apples and cherries…and even more together. The oatmeal of the ‘crisp’ is just right from my perspective - better than crust.

Garlic Tuscan Bread. I don’t eat bread very often but I could not resist the loaf in my grocery store bakers…crunchy crust and soft on the end side. I toasted it and ate it sprayed with olive oil.

Butternut Squash Soup. My grocery store has butternut squash already cut up into chunks which makes the two kinds of soup I make simple easy. I alternate between the two because like them both so much. The first is butternut squash with curry seasoning (sometimes I sprinkle unsweetened coconut on top…pretty and tasty). The other is butternut squash with salsa. Sometimes I add parsley or chopped kale. It only takes about 15 minutes for the squash to soften in the broth; I mash it in the pan with a potato masher (and wonder if I will ever buy an immersion blender for the purpose).

Birds

Bluebirds. We have some resident bluebirds. They are visiting our deck because we have a bird bath that does not freeze (I bought a heater for it). Every time I see them, I celebrate. I hope I can get some pictures of them eventually.

Canadian Geese. Usually the Canadian Geese bother me because there are so many of them but they were so photogenic at Centennial Park this month that I changed my mind about them.

Activities

Solstice Hike. I enjoyed the hike this year and plan to add a hike on the shortest day of the year to our family tradition for years to come

Wildlife Photography Class. The class from Creative Live was well worth the time…but I celebrated it because my husband and I did the class together in our den with the Christmas tree decorated and a fire in the fireplace. Some wonderful hours!

Bundling boxwood and holly. Somehow group activities in December are an important part of the holiday. Bundling boxwood and holly for a nature holiday sale was not something I’d done before … but it added to the celebration of the season seeing the piles of greenery and knowing that most of it would find its way to other homes for the holidays!

Christmas Retrospective

What were the best parts of your Christmas? Here are mine:

A sunny day. We’d had clouds and rain for the days leading up to Christmas to having a bright sunny day for Christmas was very welcome.

Scones. I made scones with cranberry orange relish and crystalized ginger - and ate my first serving hot from the oven, sitting in a sunny window, drinking hot tea, and reading a novel.  Cooking is something I savor now that I don’t need to rush.

Yes - there was other good food and gifts…but looking back at the day, I savored the quiet of this Christmas. Many past Christmases were a lot of hustle and bustle with large family or work events around the holiday. By the 25th everyone was exhausted. But the calm settled in around my house early this week....making the day a relaxed crescendo of the season.

Merry Christmas

Every Christmas is different but I enjoy them all.

Here’s wishing everyone a wonderful day with family and friends!

Christmas Eve

The night before Christmas….what is your tradition?

As I was growing up, I remember the countdown to Christmas. We were permitted to open one present per day beginning a few days before Christmas. The largest or most grandly wrapped present was saved for the evening of Christmas Eve - opened after a very large evening meal that tried to provide everyone’s favorite foods. I remember the desserts more than the main dishes: apricot kolaches and cinnamon rolls. As I got older I appreciated the raisin buns (yeast bread around a raisin filling) served with dinner.

We enjoyed the lights of the season. There was a line of cars to see the biggest display in town. We always tried to spot which part was new…and where the guards were sitting.

Music was also an important part of the season. We enjoyed school performances, caroling, and church choirs. Some of the events were earlier than Christmas Eve but they set the stage for the evening…and the next day too.

Now - I realize I have some of my own traditions.

• Pumpkin Custard is our favorite dessert for the Christmas season (as it was for Thanksgiving too). I’ll be making it today.
• We’ll watch The Snowman video (available on YouTube here) this evening and maybe listen to Steeleye Span’s Gaudete (from their web page here) and some Mannheim Steamroller Christmas.
• A fire in the fireplace to enjoy along with our dinner and video/music.
• Driving around to look at the lights in the neighborhoods near us.

Poinsettias

Poinsettias are a frequent sight this time of year. They are a welcome large bloom in the shortest days of the year and seem to be included in more displays every year. It does not seem that long ago that we only saw red ones but now they come in all shades between white and red. I’ve been collecting images for this post over the past week or so. The large colorful parts of the plants are actually bracts…with the flower of the plant being the small structures surrounded by the colorful bracts. The undersides of the bracts often have prominent veins that may be a different color than the other tissue. Enjoy the varieties of poinsettia in the slide show below…they’re a colorful part of the winter holiday!

Zooming - December 2014

There is a lot of Northern Hemisphere Christmas imagery in this month’s zooming series. It is the time of year that we bring green indoors for decorating - to contrast with the view from most of our windows of bare tree branches. We notice the subtle changes in color and texture now that the leaves are brown mulch on the forest floor - raked away from the lawn.

Enjoy the zoomed images…and take a closer look at decorating in your area too!

December Hurry and Flurry

The December hurry and flurry is in full swing already for me. I seem to be a little behind in a number of areas.

The front yard needs raking because the oak tree waited to drop its leaves until about a week ago and it had been very wet since then. The leaves need to be raked even though it will be a cold and miserable job.

The gifts that have to be mailed are purchased - which is good. But they need to get in the mail this week. And there are more on the list to be ordered and sent directly to the recipients. I appreciate the Amazon wish lists!

I am barely started on sending out cards. It is more time consuming since I want to write at least a short note in each one. My goal is to do at least a few every day over the next week and hope they all get done.

The house needs a good cleaning - the floors and bathrooms are OK but many surfaces (particularly the bookcases) are very dusty.

And items to be donated are piled in the dining room.

It is all easily corrected…and I’ll feel a lot better about the holiday when it is!

Holiday Events

Part of the joy of December - the brightness in the season of short days - is holiday events. This year I volunteered at two events that ended up being in the same weekend. They were both so much fun I’ll do the same sort of thing next year! Somehow being part of the set up and behind-the-scenes logistics for an event makes it even more of a celebration.

I enjoy the decorations like the ones I posted about yesterday and the ‘pot people’ at the Howard County Conservancy’s Mt. Pleasant farm decked out for the season.

Baking is an integral part of holidays for me…and it is so much better to share the products rather than overindulge. My favorite homemade goodies to donate for events are the always popular oatmeal raisin cookies and coconut macaroons. I was glad there were none leftover this year!

One of my volunteer jobs was to help bundle up donated boxwood and holly - to be sold at one of the events. I bought some and then took some of the remains at the end of the day for a vases and pitchers in my kitchen. It was the final bit of decorating around my house. What a reminder of the ‘good beginning’ of December!

Holiday Decorations at Belmont

The Howard County Conservancy hosted a Colonial Holiday Celebration at Belmont yesterday. I volunteered to help with set up and registration so had enough time before the event started to photograph some of the decorations that partner organizations had created in the first floor room. They had done a fabulous job. There were lots of good ideas to consider for some future Christmas decorating: cranberries at the end of narrow ribbons hanging from the chandelier, a bowl of cranberries; garlands of pine boughs, cones, and boxwood; magnolia leaves and dried hydrangea flowers in an unused fireplace; arrangements of oranges studded with cloves, apples and pineapples; homemade ornaments of dried apple slices, whole pomegranates drying, dough handprints; greenery tied to everything with narrow red ribbon; popcorn and cranberry garland.

It was close to sunset by the time I left. The windows of the house glowed in the soft evening light.

Looking in the other direction the horizon glowed with color, the pond reflects the trees, and the magnolia in from of the house stands sentinel.

Personal History via Christmas Ornaments

Every year when I decorate for the holidays, I enjoy the personal history the ornaments represent.

From the 1960s, there are red tree shapes with gold braid (my mother gave them to be years later when she was cleaning out Christmas ‘stuff’),

A ceramic candle holder of carolers given to me by a friend from early elementary school, and

A Madonna and Child from an elderly neighbor that lived across the street when I was in late elementary school.

From the 1970s, there are handmade felt birds. I made two of each kind. In recent years they have decorated banisters rather than the tree.

From the 1980s, the collection includes angels left behind by the previous owner of the house we bought in Virginia,

Some heritage glass ornaments from the Smithsonian,

Dough bears made by my sister just before we got pregnant with our daughters (her first, my only), and

Ornaments that my mother-in-law bought during her first Christmas with us.

In the 1990s, my daughter chose a white artificial tree (the cat is from the 2000s and is not a Christmas ornament) and

Homemade ornaments (my favorite is the purple eggshell).

By the 2000s, the tree was already full. One of the few additions were copper coated leaves that my daughter bought as a gift to us while she was away at college. I like them so much I put them in the window as sun catchers.

In the2010s, I added an owl cut from light wood that I bought on our trek down the east coast to Florida in fall 2013 for the Maven launch.

I’ve also wrapped the small boxes (empty) we’ve accumulated over the years to put in a sleigh beside the tree - they are my latest ‘decoration’!

Gleanings of the Week Ending November 29, 2014

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

The Chemistry of Ginger – Flavour, Pungency & Medicinal Potential - This article from ‘Compound Interest’ was timely - with my new favorite winter drink being hot ginger water!

This Menacing Carnivorous Plant Time-lapse Is a Horror Movie for Bugs - I remember sending off for a tiny Venus fly trap plant when I was in elementary school - fascinated by the idea of plants that ate bugs. Now I am even more fascinated by the chemistry behind the rapid action the plant takes to trap the bug! The video is under 4 minutes in length - worth a look.

Scientists study effects of sunlight to reduce number of nearsighted kids - There is still research to be done to fully understand the relationship between outdoor time and nearsightedness…but there is enough evidence already to encourage more outdoor time for children to reduce the lifetime risk of nearsightedness.  The ages between 5 and 9 seem to be critical.

Urban Cartography - This is a collection of maps. My favorite is the mapping of sea level rise on the south part of South Bay (San Francisco). Lots of tech company headquarters are in the vulnerable zone with relatively little rise in sea level.

Gifted men and women define success differently, 40-year study finds - From the Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth conducted at Vanderbilt Peabody College of Education and Human Development.  The study involved over 1600 people that were well established in their careers and lives. Collectively they had published 85 books and 7,572 refereed academic articles and secured 681 patents and $358 million in grants. Their scores on measures of emotional well-being, life satisfaction, personal and career direction, and satisfaction with their relationships were universally high. Then the gender differences become more apparent in other areas such as career path, salary, time allocation, priorities, and family. The finding that both the mathematically talented men and women in the study were ‘happy’ says something good about their resilience and the cultural environment.

Update: American Farm Bureau Federation et al. v. EPA Oral Arguments - This update caught my eye because it was about the Chesapeake Bay - something close to home. There is a Total Maximum Daily Load program for the Chesapeake Bay which is coordinated by the EPA in collaboration with the states whose watershed feeds into the bay.

Gingerbread Molasses Scones - Yum! I made these this week. The only changes I made to the ingredients were 1) whole wheat flour instead of plain flour and 2) no topping. I also used the food processor to mix everything. I did the kneading right in the big pan, cut the pieces of dough, separated them a little, and into the oven they went.

These Parasitic Wasps Trick Trees into Building Them Weird Houses - The oak tree hosts quite a few gall wasps. The video show some of the variety.

An Astounding History of Scientific Space Art from the Past 200 Years - Imaginings of other places….

The Complete Crocodilian Primer - Links to articles about the all the different kinds of crocodiles.

Ten Days of Little Celebrations - November 2014

Noticing something worth celebration each day is an easy thing for me to do. The habit of writing it down reminds me to be grateful for these and a myriad of other things in my life. This month has been full of ‘little celebrations’ - as had been the usual for the past few months. Here are my top 10 for November 2014.

Noticing the seasonal change

A warm day. November had some perfect outdoor days this year. I celebrated by spending most of one of those days outdoors and, realizing that the warmth would be over soon,  celebrated the warm sun and blue sky.

Leaves flying. The breezes took the leaves from the trees and swirled them up and across and over the roadways. The view was a serendipity celebration on the way to someplace else. Did the idea of confetti for celebratory parades come from the natural process of leaves swirling away from the trees in the fall?

First snow of the season. We got our first snow the day before Thanksgiving! It was the perfect low impact snow: melted almost immediately on sidewalks and streets, stuck to grass and roofs enough to make everything pretty. I celebrated the beauty…and that I didn’t have to get out of the house at all.

Food

Thai food in a quiet restaurant. I was a little too far from home to get there for a lunch and I celebrated finding a quiet Thai food restaurant where the ambience was pleasant and the food was tasty. I read my Kindle book and savored the place…celebrated a lunch out.

Cranberry orange relish. It tasted so good. I like it so much that I eat it more as a dessert than a relish! I’ll eat up the batch I made for Thanksgiving over the next week or so….and then make another! This is one of my favorite foods between Thanksgiving and Christmas. It is part of the celebration of the season for me.

Hot ginger root and lemon ‘tea.’ I enjoy the subtle flavor of fresh ginger in hot water. Sometimes I don’t even need the lemon…or the tea. The ginger root tea is the new additional to the celebration of the season this year.

Activities

Chincoteague - bald eagle soaring over the highway. It was hard to pick what I celebrated the most about our weekend in Chincoteague but I finally settled on the bald eagle soaring over the highway as we headed home. There is something about the bird that makes me celebrate every time I see one in the wild. They’ve made quite a comeback since the dark days of DDT.

Nature hikes (field trips). The fall season elementary school field trip nature hikes for the Howard Country Conservancy ended this month. I celebrate the enthusiasm and curiosity of the children - their joy at being outdoors.

Poetry experiments. I am never going to be a poet but the Coursera poetry course did give me ideas for word experiments…and I celebrate that spark that prompted it all.

The prospect of staying at home for several days. For some reason - it seemed like I was out and about more this month than in the past year and I realized as I headed into the Thanksgiving weekend that the prospect of staying at home for a few days was something I wanted to celebrate.  I can remember years ago when my husband and I were working full time, my middle school aged daughter told us that instead of going away for a 3 day week that she wanted us all to just stay home! And we all celebrated the ‘at home’ vacation. I am feeling like that again right now.

Thanksgiving 2014

The cranberry orange relish, pumpkin custard, and gingerbread molasses scones were made yesterday.

The roast is in the crockpot.

The potatoes (sweet and russet) and parsnips (au gratin) are poised to go into the oven.

We’ll light the logs in the fireplace and eat a small salad as football blares.

It’s our tradition.

In the short silences of the day -

Maybe on a neighborhood walk after the big meal, during halftime of the football game -

We’ll talk of the wonder of our lives:

That our long careers were satisfying…

That our family is well…

That the future is full of potential…

That we live the way we wish to live…

And we are full of thanks.

Holiday Plans

I’m working on the grocery list that includes the makings of our Thanksgiving feast and thinking more broadly of the next few months. Along with the holidays, there are family birthdays and anniversaries to consider. I enjoy the traditions woven with events unique to the year. This season is shaping up with a good mix.

We’ll have our traditional crock pot roast for Thanksgiving…along with potatoes (sweet for me, russet for my husband), cranberry orange relish, and pumpkin custard. For the ‘something new’ I might try parsnips au gratin and a small pecan pie (from the bakery).

Rather than shopping on Black Friday, we’ll put up our Christmas decorations: the tree, the pinecone wreath on the door, the collected Christmas cards under plastic on the breakfast table, and flags from the loft railing. We are putting the Christmas tree in a slightly different place this year; they’ll be more re-arrangement of furniture.

We have a two day photography class the first week in December which we’ll watch on the television in the room that has the Christmas tree…we’ll soak up the ambience of the season. I’m making sure we have enough logs for the fireplace.  What a nice coming together of circumstance!

Then I have two days of volunteer work to support holiday events. One is a Holiday Sale for a local non-profit and I’ll buy a good portion of Christmas gifts for my family from the venders there. This is only my second year with the event but I count it in the ‘tradition’ column.

Then my husband travels to the west coast for a conference - which he has been attending for years and it is always in December. It is a tradition - one that we adjust our other holiday plans to accommodate. While he’s gone, I’ll distribute the piles of ‘stuff’ I’ve accumulated for donation and take a look at Brookside Gardens Conservatories. Usually we have a tradition of walking around the Brookside light display but it is not happening this year due to construction/renovation at the gardens.

We have never been to Longwood Gardens in December - but are adding it to our holiday plans this year - for the display in the Conservatory and the lights. It will be a day trip. We can leave after the morning rush hour traffic and delay coming back until after dinner to avoid the evening rush hour. We’ll pick the day to avoid any weather related driving hazard.

Christmas will be quiet with just two of us in the house. I almost made myself sick last year when I bought a whole red velvet cake. This year I think I look for one slice - uphold the tradition but not overindulge!

Our tradition is to take all the Christmas decorations down on New Year’s Eve but we’ve been talking about taking in a ‘First Night’ celebration. It is a toss-up whether we’ll stick with tradition or try something new.

We already have some plans for January too - a trip to Tucson. That is not a tradition but it seems like good timing - the flurry of holidays over and (maybe) a bit warmer weather for a week.  It will be a great way to celebrate a 42nd wedding anniversary.

Mt. Pleasant Farm

The Howard County Conservancy’s Mt Pleasant has been the site for many field trips for county elementary schools this fall. With only a few more to go - I took the short walk along the kindergarten hike route before the buses arrived; it was another celebration of fall in Maryland. 

The flower pot people are always on display on a shady bench….suitably styled for the season.

Many of the trees are labeled - including this Witch Hazel

And the Saucer Magnolia.

I liked both of them for their color and the way the light was striking the leaves. Somehow the children always enjoy the discovery of the rabbit sculpture under a bush.

Many of the pines seem to have more cones near the top. Pretty soon we’ll be emulating the way the cones hang from the branches on our Christmas tree!

The buses arrived shortly after my walk and my focus shifted to hiking with children and their chaperones….and that too is a celebration of the season.

Ten Days of Little Celebrations - October 2014

Noticing something worth celebration each day is an easy thing for me to do. The habit of writing it down reminds me to be grateful for these and a myriad of other things in my life. This month has been full of ‘little celebrations’ - as had been the usual for the past few months. Here are my top 10 for October 2014.

Nature hikes for elementary school students. The hikes I guide for groups of kindergarteners, 1st graders and 2nd graders are all celebrations - of nature, of fall, of being young and outdoors exploring. It is a near perfect volunteer gig! Yes - sometimes it rains and sometimes it is cold….but even with those challenges, something interesting and memorable always seems to happen.

An afternoon volunteering at my daughter’s high school. My daughter graduated 7 years ago and this was my first time back at the school. I celebrated that the building has been renovated, the crew of students picking up trash that had blown onto grounds (it was a windy day), and that it still seemed to be a well-run school! All the changes I noticed were positive.

Interesting elders. I celebrate the older people I volunteer to drive to their appointments or shopping. They are independent and savvy and full of life experiences. I get all kinds of ideas of how I want to be 20 or 30 years from now!

A whole pumpkin.  I bought a pie pumpkin - cooked it whole - ate a serving with butter and cinnamon as soon as it came out of the oven - made the rest into pumpkin/ginger scones and pumpkin custard.  I’m still celebrating the goodness…and hoping they still have some pie pumpkins at my grocery so I can buy another later this week.

Kohlrabi. This is my first season with kohlrabi and I like it so much that I celebrate every time I eat it. It is still new to my list of ‘normal’ foods.

Fall foliage. I have always liked the colors of fall ---- and October is the month for them in Maryland.

Cooler days. Along with the colors - cooler days make it easier to enjoy hikes. We’ve already enjoyed a trek in Catoctin Mountain Park and Cunningham Falls State Park in Central Maryland. Being in motion outdoors surrounded by trees and lakes and streams is a great setting for celebration.

Newport. I always include vacations as celebrations…they always turn out that way. There is always something that makes a place memorable. Newport is quite a collection of house tours...worth celebrating.

Coming home. After each week or more away - I always celebrate coming home. This time was no exception. It took me almost week to get caught up on processing the veggies from the CSA shares, course work, and laundry!

School. October is probably my favorite school month because classes are well underway and the upcoming holidays are not detracting. October always seems to be a peak learning month of the year…and I’m celebrating that realization.

Ten Days of Little Celebrations - September 2014

Noticing something worth celebration each dayis an easy thing for me to do. The habit of writing it down reminds me to be grateful for these and a myriad of other things in my life. This month has been full of ‘little celebrations’ - as had been the usual for the past few months. Here are my top 10 for September 2014.

Lingering summer foods. I savored the yellow tomatoes and watermelon this month - knowing that the will not be fresh from local fields very soon.

Great Falls of the Potomac. There is something about re-visiting sights and sounds close to home. It has been several years since I’d walked around the place. I’m already planning another outing once the leaves begin to turn.

Belmont is another place close to home. I had been there a few times but not enough. It is a place to savor.

BioBlitz at Belmont. I was volunteer naturalist for 3 of 4 days of the BioBlitz. It was exhilarating and exhausting!  There was a lot to celebrate but most memorable was the joy the 5th and 7th graders had in discovering and insect or plant or bird that they hadn’t noticed before.

Mating Insects. It’s that time of year it seems. As part of the BioBlitz we saw ladybugs and wheelbugs….getting ready for overwintering of their kind. It’s a celebration of the continuity of nature.

Symmetry - furniture - motion. Last month I celebrated symmetry and tiles - something I was learning about in a Coursera course. This month - now toward the end of the course - there was a section on symmetry in furniture. The designed talked about his work and showed examples when the motion of the furniture is real and others when it is a visual deception. I was intrigued and delighted!

Emily Dickinson. Dickinson was one of the first poets to be discussed in the Modern & Contemporary American Poetry course I am taking via Coursera. I find myself celebrating the memory of my changing perception of the poet between my high school days and now.

Mint…and more mint. I’m celebrating my mint crop this year….and will savor it all winter long as hot mint tea.

A rainy day. Sometimes a rainy day is just what I need; there was only one rainy day in September and I celebrated staying indoors and at home. It’s good for recovering ones balance - ready for whatever comes next.

Leggings. I found some denim leggings at the thrift store that appeared new….and they fit me perfectly. A bargain worth celebrating!

Favorite Memories of Summer 2014

Today - the traditional ‘last day of summer’ - I am savoring the memories of the past 3 months. It has been cooler than usual in my area (Maryland, near Baltimore) so the outdoor activities have been especially pleasant. Here are my top 5 memories from this summer:

The Deck Garden. The plants on the deck are a daily draw to go outdoors. There is always something changing - new flowers blooming, a tiny tomato forming, sweet potato vines spilling over the edge of the pot then the deck…and blooming, and all the associated insects and birds enjoying the plants (sometimes causing some damage) and the water in the birdbath and the pot saucers. I may change some of the plants next year - but using every available pot for something is definitely something to continue from now on.

Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens. The place made my list because it was a new experience. I still enjoyed places I have been many times this summer (Brookside Gardens and the National Arboretum and the Howard County Conservancy Mt. Pleasant Farm) but the lotuses at the aquatic garden with the dragonflies that abounded were a high point of the garden visits this season.

Josey Ranch Lake. What a pleasant surprise it was to walk around the small lake near the library in Carrollton TX! It hosts such a variety of resident birds (although I did wish the nutria were not there).  It became the high point of ‘sights’ for the two weeks I spent in Texas this summer.

CSA Veggies. This was my first participation in a Community Supported Agriculture farm and I’ve enjoyed the enhanced flavor of fresh-from-the-field vegetables. I will do it again next summer!

Classes. I become more aware all the time of just how much I enjoy being a student. Whether the classes are online (Coursera and Creative Live) or ‘live’ at the Howard County Conservancy…classes have the effect of broadening my horizons and tweaking what I do. It may not be healthy to grow larger physically but growing mentally is always a good thing.

Happy end-of-summer 2014!