BRATTLEBORO WOMEN'S CHORUS SPRING CONCERT

For anyone who will be in the Brattleboro, Vermont area tonight or tomorrow afternoon, I'll be singing in the Brattleboro Women's Chorus Spring Concerts. One of my poems will also be read during the two performances. Hope to see you there!

P.S. If you do come, please introduce yourself to me after the performance.

Happy Mother's Day.

Happy Birthday, Birdman!

Let's celebrate the wonderful Mark Norton, AKA Birdman, who would have been gleefully observing his birthday today. In just a couple of months my book, NIGHT JOB, will be published by Candlewick Press. It was inspired by one of the hundreds of wonderful tales Mark shared with us about his childhood. I hope some of you will look for it and enjoy it. With best wishes to you all, Brattcat (aka Karen Hesse)

Remembering Birdman/Holding Nice in our hearts

Today is Mark's birthday.

How we miss him.

Our love to his beloved Elenka and son, J.

And to all of our friends in Nice,

we send support, hope and love.

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.