I Cooked Something...We Ate It...We're Still Alive

It doesn't actually look appealing in that photo but it was good! I made it! I had whipped up this little chicken tortilla soup recipe once before but nonetheless was proud of concocting it again last night. I know to most normal, well-adjusted adults, this would not be a big deal, but cooking anything that requires more than a toaster or a pot of boiling water is a feat for yours truly. The strangest part is, I actually enjoyed it.... 

Shelburne Farms - Burlington, VT

We took a lovely jaunt up to Burlington, VT this weekend to visit Pete and Sille and give Simon's new skis a test run. We drove up Saturday morning and headed over to Shelburne Farms for an icy stroll on their property. As the former country estate to the Vanderbilts, the main campus is a 1400 acre working farm, forest and National Historic Landmark. They steward and share their property in ways that are environmentally, economically, and culturally sustainable, using it as a campus for learning. There is a seasonal inn and restaurant but the miles of trails through the woods, fields, and along the lake shore are open year-round. It was beautiful with hardly anyone else around and the sun dipping slowly as we meandered along the walking paths. Plus we discovered that partly snow covered, brown, wintry fields are Merwin's perfect camouflage. Can you find him?

I Miss This

A Poem For A Thursday

The Place
Paul Zimmer

Once in your life you pass
Through a place so pure
It becomes tainted even
By your regard, a space
Of trees and air where
Dusk comes in perfect ripeness.
Here the only sounds are
Sighs of rain and snow,
Small rustlings of plants
As they unwrap in twilight.
This is where you will go
At last when coldness comes.
It is something you realize
When you first see it,
But instantly forget.
At the end of your life
You remember and dwell in
Its faultless light forever.