A Poem For A Thursday

No Shadow
W.S. Merwin

Dogs grief and the love of coffee
lengthen like a shadow of mine

and now that my eyes no longer
swear to anything I look out

through the cloud light of this autumn
and see the valley where I came

first more than half my life ago
oh more than half with its river

a sky in the palm of a hand
never unknown and never known

mine and not mine
beyond it into the distance

the ridges reflect the clouds now
through a morning without shadows

the river still seems not to move
as though it were the same river

Awww, Merwin And His Best Friend!

Scenes From The Weekend

Gorgeous recent weather here, so we took advantage of what I imagine to be the last of the "good old days." Two Boston-based friends joined us for the day Saturday and we roamed around Portsmouth, shared some laughs, and enjoyed a scrumptious dinner of American tapas at Moxy. We've tried a fair share of restaurants in our few months here and this is the stand out as of now. Sunday we headed up to Maine for a little beach walking adventure in York and then later in Ogunquit. Fun to be near the sand and surf although I'm realizing just how obnoxious it is to have these great pictures marred by this annoying speck of dust in my phone's camera lens. Given the pattern, I imagine I'll be taking photos of sunsets, oceans, and Merwin for many years to come so I'll try not to get too bent out of shape. In the meantime, enjoy more of the same!

Book Report - The Circle

This review needs to be couched by the fact that I didn't actually READ this book. I listened to it. I've never really done this before so have no experience with how my absorption method did or did not affect my appreciation for it. I will say, though, that this is one of my favorite books in a long time.

Now to see if I can explain why. "The Circle" is a Company, a futuristic combo platter of social media as we know it--think Google, Facebook, Twitter all further expanded and housed under the same roof. The company's story, culture and ideas are told through the eyes of twenty-something Mae, their newest employee. Among thousands of other "Circlers," Mae's perspective slowly reveals The Circle's principle values: Privacy is Theft and Secrets Are Lies. The Company's ideas get more and more ridiculous as we go on, yet at the same time more and more believable, both to Mae and to the readers. To us, it's a bit cultish and freaky but you can also understand how Mae gets pulled deeper and deeper into this crazy reality, rapidly losing her footing in any other aspect of life. 

Toward the middle of the book she "goes transparent," wearing a high-end tiny camera that feeds EVERY aspect of what she sees to her millions of "watchers." Nearly all of the world's politicians do this as well, taking their watchers into every meeting, every conversation and every vote. The camera never turns off. Soon,"transparency" is the new normal. Getting a Circle membership is required, getting your child microchipped is required, all voting happens through your Circle membership and all votes are made public. EVERYTHING is public, nothing is ever erased and everything and everyone is perpetually accessible...all in the name of safety and access. After all, privacy is theft and secrets are lies. 

The world itself is intriguing and a little scary. I found myself wary of Facebook and in my typical fashion, allowed myself to be CERTAIN that this is the way the apocalypse would go down. Anyway, in addition to the great world-building, there are some fantastic characters, superb writing and fascinating little subtleties that all wrap up into a really spectacular package.  Highly recommend!

Stitchfix #8 - The Final Farewell

Adios Stitchfix! The decision to say goodbye wasn't because I was enormously displeased with this month's box, although trust me, there were two stinkers in its contents, but it was more that I now live 5 minutes from an outlet mall. On a recent trip, I snagged a crazy amount of clothes for a crazy small number of dollars and the experience was more fun than opening the delivery. So we're done and I feel good about it. Especially because of these...

What...the...heck. A of all, I'm not even sure what is supposed to be happening with that dress. It's just bad. Real bad. Not even sure I should be posting the picture bad and glad the photos came out fuzzy bad. And then the sweater. Sweater coat? Sweater curtain? What on earth is up with THAT?

So yeah those two were just so absurd that it wasn't even worth trying to comprehend. I actually really liked this blue marled sweater by Kensie. It was cozy and warm and nice, but it was also a tad too expensive for its casual-ness, if that makes any sense.

I came out of the deal with this neat black and white infinity scarf and some grey jeans. I've been hunting for some great grey skinny jeans for awhile now and these ones by Mavi did the trick. Hopefully they'll be a "go-to" during the rapidly approaching jeans and boots season. But that is that and I'm over Stitchfix. Kudos to them for the brilliant business idea and great customer service but I guess I'm going back to my old school shopping ways.

Just A Little Moment

This is where I want to be.

Scenes From The Last Few Weeks

Catching up! Whirlwind month since moving to Portsmouth with an onslaught of draining happenings--packing, unpacking, furniture hunting, making the final trip to the Vineyard, selling the house, adjusting to the commute and new city, etc. etc. Lots of support all around which has been invaluable as well as a fun celebration of nuptials thrown in there too (congrats Lori and Adam!). Plus, pre-season hockey is upon us and playoff baseball started yesterday. And Merwin got a haircut! Happy October!

Speaking of Solitudes

These past two days have made the often lengthy commutes down to Cambridge incredibly worth it. I've been working from our "rustic office" aka the satellite branch at Round Pond and boy, is it perfect. I was afraid I would feel that I was ruining this place with the stress of work, but if anything, this place has removed the stress from the work. So far today, I have seen the heron twice, six ducks, five loons, one dog (mine), and two fishermen (they didn't see me). It is so beautiful and tranquil and productive. I'm shocked at how much I've been able to get done and how great it feels in the process. Let's hope this is always how it is. Here's some scenes from breaktime this afternoon.

A Poem For A Thursday

Solitudes
Margaret Gibson

For today, I will memorize
the two trees now in end-of-summer light

and the drifts of wood asters as the yard slopes away toward
the black pond, blue

dragonflies
in the clouds that shine and float there, as if risen

from the bottom, unbidden. Now, just over the fern--
quick--a glimpse of it,

the plume, a fox-tail's copper, as the dog runs in ovals and eights,
chasing scent.

The yard is a waiting room. I have my chair. You, yours.

The hawk has its branch in the pine.

White petals ripple in the quiet light.

I'm sitting here at our table overlooking the lake with NPR's classical music hour on the radio (gosh, I sound like a tool). It's a gray day and I haven't seen or heard another human soul. The trees are beginning to develop a yellow tinge and the Great Blue Heron just emerged from the brush next to our house and flew across the lake. Peaceful. Solitude.

Moments ago, Garrison Keillor read this poem as part of The Writer's Almanac broadcast. I can't help but to connect it to September 11th. It seems as though the narrator is reflecting, especially given the mention of the two trees in the light--perhaps a vague reference to the towers? I don't know for sure and that's okay, as the poem is just lovely. Again, another poem describing this singular moment with such beautifully-worded snippets from the scene. For the first time in a long time, this one makes me to want to go back to my own poetry writing. But for now, I've got to write something far less glamorous...a grant proposal. Have a great day.

Best Doggy Toy Ever

Why not spoil the dog? And if you can spoil him while also stretching his brain power, double win. I had my eye on a version of this quite some time ago, but they were outrageously expensive. This one was a bargain at Bed Bath and Beyond. Essentially, these little wooden "pockets" hold treats but are hidden under sliding panels. I knew right away that Merwin needed this. NEEDED it. He will do anything to get treats and watching him try to figure it out is a bonus...this really stretches his abilities. It took him awhile but eventually he found every treat by nudging the doors with his nose and sliding them with his paw. We have a genius dog! Mensa! Sign him up for college! Make him write a book! This dog also once got stuck in a traffic cone. Done.