you've all been so wonderful.

thank you for so many years of kindness, generosity, wit, and compassion.

i've loved meeting you all and spending time in your world and having you visit mine.

wishing you all the best.

july, and the morning yawns and stretches,

then lowers its noddy head back on the downy pillow 

and slumbers a wee bit longer.

july theme day: facade

once little brattleboro claimed three new bookstores and four or five used bookshops.

the number of brick and mortar bookstores dwindles annually.

but basket's books, with its garage/barn door facade, continues to hang on.

no post yesterday because we had no power

we had no power

 because a squirrel

 had a fatal encounter

with the transformer at the end of our street 

in the woodworker's shop

mr. brattcat is building a sideboard for our diningroom.

this new piece of furniture has come so far from a bundle of lumber, 

but still has a long way to go before it's finished.

building a stone wall

in oppressive heat

and maintaining one's sense of humor.

imagine.

yesterday morning, in the dawning,

i discovered this cut glass vase 

had become a bowl of sunlight.

a bouquet to share

on this steamy morning. 

what will you do with this day?

at the christening

while his baby sister received her blessings,

the big brother gathered some blessings of his own.

when it gets hot...

dog paddle.

it will be so hot here today

shall we dream of gliding across ice?

and a little pig

balanced a golden needle on its snout

once upon a walk

a dinosaur emerged from the upper left hand corner of a stone wall

did you ever

wash your hair in a rainstorm?

looks innocent, doesn't he?

but he's made of cotton on #2 needles and i'm not certain my neck will ever recover from creating him.

the crowning

i end this strolling of the heifers series with an enchanting tiara-wearing alpaca.

the goat olympics

it took these guys

 awhile to figure out the game plan

but eventually they caught on and happily ate their "awards" at the finish line.

happy father's day.

after the parade

there were tractors to check out...

a nurse from brattleboro memorial hospital

handed out healthy treats to children lining the parade route.

if you had to go to the hospital wouldn't you love being taken care of by this guy?

hats and smiles

from shy slip of sunshine

to beaming bright light-up-the-street smiles

point of view 2

this girl took in the parade from up on the roof

points of view

one girl watched the parade from her third story window.

stage fright

some of the littlest heifers got the jitters at the start and needed a little encouragement climbing main street hill.

to our "udder" delight

the clouds parted, the sun smiled broadly,

not a single drop fell on our parade.

while waiting for the parade to begin

how about a little stroll in the side garden?

something's up

tomorrow is the annual STROLLING OF THE HEIFERS,

when main street surrenders to a herd of garlanded cows.

this little guy will vanish, poof, 

at the very first clop of the very first hoof.

mr. brattcat has been making art again

gifts from the june cutting garden

there is only an inch or so left on the spool of this school year

and teachers and children alike

are poised to fly off into summer

the early morning sun

went skipping through our front garden.

pass it on

can you imagine one box whispering to its closest neighbor?

and that neighbor whispering to the next,

and the next?

would the message be the same by the time it reached the end of the line?

alki steriopoulis live

he filled the congregational church with his original compositions despite the crushing heat,

making us laugh and sigh and wonder at how fingers can move that fast.

i think rudolph serkin would have been pleased to hear such a nimble musician play his piano.

the beauty of decay

at the edge of amish country, shartlesville, pennsylvania...

a wall fragment,

a vanishing path,

a weary barn.

garlic at lilac ridge

and what would you make with these bold, fresh bulbs?

memorial day in brattleboro

 a lone trumpeter played a medley of melancholy tunes

wild bill gyrated on emerson's loading platform

the town swayed to the spirited melodies of these young musicians

my silence was

the result of a fascinating trip to mars...

lift off was from the roger williams natural history museum in providence, r.i. 

happy birthday, library jewel...

may your day be rich with friends, family, light and love.

and some excellent food, too, of course.

dunes are such fragile homes

ceaselessly redecorated by the wind

ocean city, maryland

the wind bullied the nearly deserted beach

but these two intrepid walkers bundled up and strode the strand.

the ghosts are pleased

to welcome picnicers 

to the long vacant homestead

south of stroudsburg,

pennsylvania

happy birthday,my beloved mr. brattcat

what treasures you have stored

in that brilliant attic of yours

springfield, massachusetts

one bright shining ball

suspended in an endless blue sky.

naismith museum, basketball hall of fame