THE LOVE OF OCTOBER
A child looking at ruins grows younger
but cold
and wants to wake to a new name
I have been younger in October
than in all the months of spring
… walnut and may leaves the color
of shoulders at the end of summer
a month that has been to the mountain
and become light there
the long grass lies pointing uphill
even in death for a reason
that none of us knows
and the wren laughs in the early shade now
come again shining glance in your good time
naked air late morning
my love is for lightness
of touch foot feather
the day is yet one more yellow leaf
and without turning I kiss the light
by an old well on the last of the month
gathering wild rose hips
in the sun.
–W.S. Merwin
tuff” there, like firewood, the garden cart, steppingstones and buckets, to get them out of the way while working on the rest of the project, including the larger utility yard on the other side of the house.
e or in the front yard. I bought a pot and a rolling stand for the Christmas Cactus that 
Many months ago I wrote the draft of this post, when I was making pudding frequently for my husband. In the last week of his life he ate little else. Cancer and chemo had made meals a challenge, and toward the end, this was the best solution to the various food-related problems.
myself surely do not need super rich nutrition, and after my husband died I couldn’t imagine what might move me to cook it again.
sh sieve over a medium bowl; set aside. In a medium saucepan, whisk together sugar, cocoa, cornstarch, and salt. Gradually whisk in milk, taking care to dissolve cornstarch. Whisk in egg yolks.
Last time I saw Pippin’s gar
den was in May, when planting had barely begun; it is full of lovely things now, with ever more dahlias (inside the deer fence) – and the zinnias that the deer don’t usually eat. They’ve refrained so far this year. It gets so cold in the forest there, she has to dig up the tubers before winter and replant them, along with some new acquisitions, in the spring.
Gladsome Lights 