On these bone-chilling days of winter, it gives me a warm (but slightly bittersweet) feeling to look through my father's collection of very old books (two of which are pictured above). He selected each one with care during his many excursions to old bookshops, where he would pore through the dusty stacks for hours in quiet bliss. These books have a special place in my home and heart. But now, on to some of my favorite reads that I collected from the past week:
My blogging friend Melanie, who tirelessly rehabilitates injured wild animals in Atlanta (even during Winter Storm Leon!), is such an inspiration. Once again, she taught me to see an animal in a whole new light (and her pics of opossums are, dare I say it, incredibly cute!): Pretty as a 'Possum?
When the temperature isn't dipping way below the freezing point, I love the beach in winter. This post (so poetic and pretty) from Circle of Pine Trees was written from the U.K., where I'd love to be right now, too: Beach in Winter.
In this post from Pieces of Mae, I could relate to the author's adventurous childhood winters, as well as her current wish to curl up by the fire: Do You Want to Build a Snowman?
Finally, all I can say is that this post from Larglea Confidential is pure and lovely: Winter's Veil.
Don't forget toregister for my upcoming photography e-course, "How to Take Better Photos of Nature and the World Around You." The following link has the details, including the answer to such burning questions as "What if I have a full-time job?" (Spoiler alert: If you do, then this online, self-paced course would be justperfect for you!) Learn more and register here.
I'm so excited (jittery-shivery-goosebumpy excited) to announce the details today of my first online photography course, which I've been constructing for the past several months. If you're a regular reader here, you already know that I'm rather tough on myself in the "perfectionist department", so I didn't want to open up registration until the course was at a point where I felt it was Just Right. Guess what? It's at that point!
Without further ado, I'm opening registration today for a 10-day online course called How To Take Better Photos of Nature and the World Around You. It starts on March 10, so the sooner you register at the link below, the better.
In the attached link, I've outlined all of the details and I hope I've answered all of the questions you might have about the course, but if I haven't, please don't hesitate to ask a question here in the comments section, or email me at [email protected]. Don't be shy: Ask away!
Before I begin this weekend's recommendations, I want to ask you this question: Do you have a special reading spot, a cozy corner of your home where you can get away from all of the chatter and bustle of this world and enter a new world within the covers of a book? If not, I encourage you to create one. On these ultra-chilly days when the thermometer is dropping to alarming lows, there's something so comforting and inviting about a comfy chair nestled in a corner, with a proper reading light, a place to put up your feet, a velvety throw, and a little table for a hot drink. We have a few of these reading nooks (see Joyful Reads Vol. 10, below), and almost nothing makes me happier than discovering one of my children cuddled up under a thick blanket and dreamily lost in the pages of a book. Often, you can find me in one of those corners as well. And now, some good reads for those nooks:
My new blogging friend, Maureen, set off on a life-changing trip to the Andes. I loved reading about the (literal) highs and lows of her trip, but especially that she "caught a glimpse of what is possible."
Pure coziness, courtesy of one of my favorite bloggers: Thankful.
For the past two years, I've been trying to raise three dwarf citrus trees (lemon, lime, and mandarin orange), moving them indoors in winter. After delivering a few limes, one tree has kicked the bucket and I'm afraid the other two are close behind, so this article from Living Green Magazine about easy houseplants arrived just in time. I agree with their endorsement of peace lilies--we've had two of them thriving for over a decade and they are, by far, the easiest houseplants ever!
Lastly, I want to recommend a book for these dark days of winter when you might like something particularly cozy, light, and amusing. Although it's supposedly for children, anyone who is a fan of the classic novel The Wind in the Willows will love it. It's "very British" and the illustrations are wonderful. I've read all of the sequels to the original novel, but this one is my favorite: Return to the Willows.
Wishing you warmth!
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Nature photography e-course coming in March 2014! Stay tuned for details!
Last Saturday, my son and I set out on a very early train to New York City (we're an hour away, the perfect distance!) with the nervous hopes of seeing Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring on its second-to-last day in America. I've loved that painting since my college days (I was an art history major), had a framed poster of it in my first apartment, read the book, saw the movie...but somehow, missed the rather big news that it was on loan to the Frick Collection from the Netherlands through January 19th. In a stroke of good timing, my son chose to cover it for his fourth grade art report. As soon as we learned about the Girl's stateside visit, we enlisted the help of my art-loving, New Yorker uncle, who arranged to stand in line for us an hour before the museum opened. Even then, there was still no guarantee we'd get in, as the lines had been circling around the block for weeks and the exhibit was in its final days.
For over two hours (three for my uncle), we waited in a line that barely inched forward, getting pelted by big, wet snowflakes, which froze our toes and chased away less determined people from the line. But in the end, we made it! We were face-to-face with a celebrity of historical proportions, and guess what? It was worth every shivering minute.
Actually, I think we enjoyed the exhibit even more because of the wretched wait. It was especially rewarding to be admitted to a toasty-warm museum on a frigid day and get up-close-and-personal with the likes of Rembrandt, The Goldfinch by Carel Fabritius that inspired Donna Tartt's best-selling novel of the same name, and most of all, the Girl we came to see.
The most surprising thing about the Girl with a Pearl Earring is that it's quite small, in the same way that the Mona Lisa is surprisingly small in real life. The picture above was taken in the atrium outside the exhibit, right before I was told to put away the camera-phone. The Girl is the ultra-miniscule speck in the frame on the far wall, within the arch. (Yeah...I can't see it either--I just know it's there because I was there.) Also surprising: We learned that pearls of that size were undocumented at the time, so the subject's earring was probably made of glass, or was a figment of the artist's imagination.
Afterward, we took brisk walks around the (finally dry) city, then cabbed downtown to our favorite bookstore in the entire world, Strand Books. If you visit New York and love books, that is theeeee place to go! (Within the link above, there's a great video tour of the store that really captures its essence.)
There are three vast floors of books, with a huge (but somehow cozy) children's section on the second floor, and the top floor (pictured below) is reserved for rare books. A very large portion of the books at the Strand are pre-owned, which is the greenest way to go when it comes to acquiring books.
Post-Strand, we had a quick bite to eat at Pret a Manger, my favorite "fast food" stop. It's also super-green. They serve organic food, donate each day's unsold food to homeless charities, and have an impressive recycling system at each restaurant. The first time I ate at a Pret restaurant was several years ago, during a layover at London's Heathrow Airport, when I wondered, "Why don't we have this type of healthy fast food chain in America?" I'm so pleased that Pret made its way across the pond!
Finally, we were homeward bound. I'd forgotten my reading glasses at home in the haze of the morning rush, and I'm totally "Mrs. Magoo" without them. Being without glasses drastically limited my peeks at my iPhone and iPad throughout the day, which turned out to be a good thing, as I'm slightly addicted to the dopamine buzz from receiving new messages. It also thwarted my plan to read on the train home, so I spent the trip just watching the world whiz by my window. (Sometimes, I need these "enforced breaks" from technology--don't you?)
It was a perfect Saturday, when everything came together just as we'd hoped. A day spent really and truly concentrating on my son, having the most interesting chats together, and enjoying the city's sights. The best of them, of course, was the Girl with a Pearl Earring.
Your turn: Have you ever seen a painting up-close that you've long admired? How did it compare to your expectations? Please share in the Comments section below. If you are reading this post via email subscription or mobile device, click on the title or go to www.JoyfullyGreen.com from a computer to see the comments and leave one of your own. (Don't forget to click the box for subscribing to comments so you can follow the conversation.)
A little "blog news" before delving into this weekend's recommendations: I'll be adding a new feature on Monday--a pretty picture to kick off the week, minus any ramblings. Wednesdays will continue to feature a "longer" post (not that long--I do try to keep it to five or six paragraphs, due to the general "busy-ness" of the world!). Fridays will continue to be saved for Joyful Reads. Sound good? Okay, then, onto five short-but-sweet reads for the weekend!
I'm an avid Anglophile, so I greedily gobble up any gorgeous photographs of the English countryside. A fine post from Lucy at Attic 24 includes such photos, along with this poetic sentiment: "I am fascinated by ice and the way it transforms everything it touches. Even the dead things look beautiful...": Winter Wonderful.
Here's a handy app that lets you quickly see if the product you're about to buy aligns with your values: Buycott.
Speaking of buying (which I don't encourage, but let's face it, we all need to do it from time to time), where your toys come from is just as important as what you buy.
And lastly, something I fully endorse and practice. Challenge your children (and yourself, for that matter) to read books (particularly, the classics) that occasionally require a dictionary: What Kids Are Reading, In School and Out.
Happy Weekend!
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Sometimes, it's hard to believe we live in the most densely populated state (that's New Jersey, for first-time visitors here). Especially when our house backs up to a forest and we have all manners of wildlife parading through our yard on a regular basis. We just never know what creatures will pop up looking for their next meal--it's like our own personal petting zoo, minus the petting part! After all, these are wild animals we're talking about here: A little red fox curled up for a nap in our back yard; a red-bellied woodpecker knock-knock-knocking at a tree for a buggy breakfast; a large herd of white-tailed deer making its daily commute between the forest and the neighborhood yards, munching heartily on our poor shrubs. (Yes, I know the deer have to eat, too, and my goodness, they're the picture of grace and beauty. I just wish they wouldn't gorge on my lilac bushes.)
The "Parade of Animals" is a bit like a traveling classroom. Whenever I start to wonder things like "what are those gigantic brown birds sitting on top of our house?", a Googling session ensues...
...and pretty soon, I'm learning that turkey vultures (so that's what they are!) eat almost exclusively carrion (elegant word for "roadkill"), and glide through the air on thermals (warm air drafts), sniffing out their next meal. These scavenger birds play an important role in the ecosystem, stemming the spread of disease--we've taken to calling them "Nature's Clean-up Crew." Some cultures believe they are sacred animals that release the soul from the body of the deceased animal, which is a rather poetic way to look at it, don't you think?
My Birds of New Jersey Field Guide tells me the turkey vulture is generally mute, making only the occasional grunt or groan. (Personally, I haven't heard any grunting or groaning emanating from the roof, but I'm glad I'm prepared for it!) I also learned that the reason our turkey vulture friends can stand for long stretches of time on the roof with their wings spread out wide is because they're drying themselves in the sun--a behavior that often happens after a cold and rainy day. I highly recommend getting a bird guide for your state or region, preferably one that groups the pages by feather color (such as the one linked above), so you can quickly figure out what's having a snack at your birdfeeder or sunning itself on your roof. (Kids, especially, love this little detective game.)
City-dwelling friends occasionally ask us if we're nervous about living in "black bear country", in a neighborhood where I fought off a coyote that wanted to eat my dog for breakfast. Yes, living in close proximity to wildlife has its (rare) heart-pounding moments, but mostly, it's immensely interesting and gratifying. And the heart of the matter is this: I'm much more nervous that my great-grandchildren won't know what it's like to live in such a place, with a large array of wild animals roaming freely through the back yard, making their way out of the wonder-filled woods.
Your turn: How frequently do you see wildlife where you live? What's the most unusual animal you've ever seen outside of a zoo? Please share in the Comments section below. If you are reading this post via email subscription or mobile device, click on the title or go to www.JoyfullyGreen.com from a computer to see the comments and leave one of your own. (Don't forget to click the box for subscribing to comments so you can follow the conversation.)
The Birds of New Jersey Field Guide is an Amazon affiliate link. If you decide to purchase it, along with any other products on this site linked to Amazon.com, I hope you'll do so through the link; it puts a few pennies in my pocket and helps support this blog. I will never recommend any products that I don't personally use and enjoy.
If you're going to be cowering indoors until the temperatures hover a few notches above the zero mark, you might as well have some clever Do-It-Yourself projects to keep you busy, these ones from the always-entertaining Lisa at Condo Blues. (My personal favorite was the champagne cork cage chair, perfect for a certain little girl's dollhouse...shhh!)
And finally, if you think you're cold now, you might want to read my interview from last spring (Spring? What's that?) with Antarctica Photographer Tatiana Botton. Bonus: Her "iceberg portraits" are out-of-this-world gorgeous.
Be warm and well!
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Nature photography e-course coming in March 2014! Stay tuned for details!
Sometimes, it's difficult to have a blog that celebrates the wonders of nature. Say, just for example, when the thermostat reads zero degrees Fahrenheit, as it did this morning, and our precious little dog needed her morning walk. It's hard to feel joyful when I'm not quite sure if I can feel the nose on my face because my gloved fingers are frozen, along with the aforementioned nose. Sure, I try to continue the "Up With Nature!" mentality, but my winter outfit looks more like a bankrobber's disguise and the wind is positively howling through my hat.
And then there's Delilah. She looks downright embarrassed to be wearing her little doggie coat, but without it, she shivers pathetically and refuses to do her business out there. Instead, she tugs toward the warm and cozy house. Not that I can blame her; I'm immensely thankful that modern society has evolved from outhouses to indoor plumbing. Dog-tugging struggles aside, walking the dog in freezing-cold weather is our small price to pay for all of the wonderful benefits of living with a dog--most notably, warm cuddles from an incredibly sweet, furry, little creature.
Last week, when the temperatures were a relative heatwave in the 20's, the kids begged to go outside and play in the snow. I thought they'd be back indoors in a flash, pleading for steaming cups of hot cocoa, but no, they stayed outdoors for upwards of an hour, building an igloo together and looking like they always get along famously. (Newsflash: They do not.)
Sometimes, I miss the sense of pure joy (no pun intended) that winter brought with it when I was a child in Connecticut. A whole yardful of snow that was like a gigantic container of white Play-Dough, ready to mold into snowmen, snowdogs, snowforts, snow-you-name-its. Yesterday, as snow began to fall again, my daughter reminded my son to stick out his tongue to catch the flakes. As children see it: What's the point of being out in the snow if you're not savoring it with all five senses?
As much as it's ridiculously frigid right now in the northeastern United States (I'm still not sure how our Canadian friends manage, let alone our Minnesota relatives, who've had school cancelled for the day based on the negative temperatures alone), I still wouldn't trade where I live. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I need the four distinct seasons. I grew up with them and they're a part of me. And now, as I watch my children outdoors--my daughter sitting on the stone wall, scooping a mittened handful of snow into her mouth, my son busy sculpting and chipping away at his own white fortress--I see the winter becoming a part of them as well. Someday, they'll remember playing in the snow when they were small, loving the winter and everything it entails.
As for Delilah, she has her moments of Winter Love, too.
Your turn: Are you a card-carrying member of the Frozen Dogwalkers Society? How do you manage to walk your canine companion when it's freezing outside?Please share in the Comments section below. If you are reading this post via email subscription or mobile device, click on the title or go to www.JoyfullyGreen.com from a computer to see the comments and leave one of your own. (Don't forget to click the box for subscribing to comments so you can follow the conversation.)
