House for sale, 96 Western Avenue

commodious dining room

House for sale, 96 Western Avenue

small porch and garden

shine a little light

When the setting for human rights

is switched to the 'on' position

in every country

for every person

on this beautiful blue planet,

then even the darkest passage

will be illuminated.

the big apple

went down to New York City on Thursday

for my niece's graduation.

spent more time traveling from Vermont to New York and back again

than I spent in that pulsing city

but the trip was worth every jitter-glitter minute.

t'aint

the weather can't seem to make up its mind...

typical for Vermont, really,

this bit of rain, bit of sun.

makes for steamy walks in rain coats

and drenching walks in shorts

this old house is protected

by a cat on the second floor porch roof

for better or worse

with every choice we make

we do exactly that.

the works

This railroad-car diner in Northhampton, Massachusetts

claimed to be open

and there was a bicycle parked outside

but it looked like a place

where only ghosts go to eat.

portrait in stone

on main street

a band of stone skirting the brick facade

reveals this image

of a poet in profile

my three dads

Some girls get

only one dad.

I got three.

Happy Father's Day everyone.

Old First Church, Bennington, Vermont

Clueless in Boston wondered about this church,

painted in shades of gray and white.

It remains as remembered,

a place of dove colors and tidy prayer boxes.

Robert Frost came to Vermont in the 1920s.

He sought a better place to farm, especially to grow apples.

In Vermont he remained for four decades.

His ashes rest in the churchyard of the Old First Church.

skywatch friday

Brooding skies overhead,

soggy earth below,

and my poor feet have been cold for days...

Is it really the first day of summer on Sunday?

this old house thursday: old red

the owner grooms this house

like a beloved child,

to walk past it

is to move along the edge of enchantment

wednesday doorway: Bennington, Vermont

the Frost stone

just a few yards

from the burial place of Robert Frost--

a nice neighborhood in which to spend eternity

the slant of sunlight

the kitchen table

serves many functions

monochrome monday: cemetery silhouette

to wander in a cemetery

is a lesson in art and history

Thank you all for your wonderful comments on my heifer series!

It's as if we are giving gifts to each other each day.

The gift of an image in exchange for the gift of a kind word.

annual strolling of the heifers: after the parade

This is the last set from a wonderful event.

This boy might be dreaming about next year's event,

but in fact he was eating cotton candy

and had fallen into some sort of

sugar-induced reverie

using local spinach,

this young chef prepared a dip as we watched...

we got to sample it when she was finished

yummmm

how patiently this sheep endured shearing 

annual strolling of the heifers:

There were flocks of children

fools,

and fiddlers.

annual strolling of the heifers: and plastic bag dragons

annual strolling of the heifers: there were unicyles

annual strolling of the heifers: in my father's arms

the day was not only about farmers

but about family, too

annual strolling of the heifers: love at first moo

Gerkin was not even remotely in a pickle.

She was clearly crazy about her young handler.

So were the photographers in the crowd.

This young lady and her heifer were featured on the front page of our local newspaper:

The Brattleboro Reformer.

annual strolling of the heifers: cowabunga

you can't have strolling of the heifers

without the heifers.

here they are...or at least some of them

annual strolling of the heifers: Pre-parade--the dairy fairy and her apprentice

annual strolling of the heifers

cows parade down main street led

by future farmers sporting freckles and straw hats,

seasoned farmers look up from their fields and nod,

fiddlers play,

ice cream drips down chins onto the sidewalk,

and wee children wobble in the short grass

those who live in glass houses

shouldn't sow thrones.

this old house

has seen better days

beauty in a roofline

three planes

against a storm sky

green cargo

on sunday

walker farm buzzed

with blossoms

and buyers

we bought heirloom tomato plants

and tender seedlings of lettuce

Wooden feet

brownie feet

at the bennington museum

Thanks to Simkitty for filling in for me over the last four days while I was prowling around Albany, New York.