While I’m certain you can’t read all of the hundreds of comments you get on each of your posts, I just need to say how much I appreciate you. Thank you for sharing your expertise and perspective. You are a gift in these tumultuous times.
Love this photo and hope you have some time to read a book, take a nap or just space out in such a beautiful spot. My days are grounded by your letters - Thank you!
Thank you, Professor, for reminding us of the gift of healing in our natural world. The pictures are always a respite. Poetry too can be a place that takes us to Peace. One of the favorites, as we take care of the environment and it gives back to us. I’m sure this poem speaks for many of us.
“The Peace of Wild Things”
by Wendell Berry
“When despair for the world grows in me and I wake in the night at the least sound in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be, I go and lie down where the wood drake rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds. I come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief. I come into the presence of still water. And I feel above me the day-blind stars waiting with their light. For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.”
Wendell Berry
from New Collected Poems (Counterpoint, 2012)
Copyright (c) 2012 by Wendell Berry, reproduced by permission of Counterpoint
So so grateful to Heather. And your thoughts shared here, including this exquisite poem, sing in the same key as Heather. I’m certain I’m not the only one who needed it and have been calmed. Thank you!
Thank you friends, for your notes about Wendell Berry’s poem, “The Peace of Wild Things.” I was waiting for a picture or opportunity to post it. Even if its form didn’t post quite right, the words, the intention, his Truth is there. The beauty. To connect to our world, our experiences. Poetry can be healing and can awaken us. Teach us. And yes, Mim, it’s true, isn’t it? “So much depends…” Onward!
At 74 years old and always a west coast person, I had no knowledge about the Atlantic coast of Maine. After 10/30/2020 when my son and daughter in law married at The Cliff House in York, Maine, your photos resonate.
My daughter cast her fate to the UK in 2003 and since the flight time from Heathrow to Boston is equivalent to ours from SFO to the Maine coast, for family summer vacations, it is beguiling.
Had my first "getaway" date with the love of my life at the Cliff House. And after shedding the corporate jobs we eventually moved to York. Opened a small business. 15 fine years. I miss it. A lot.
Take it easy, Heather. You deserve a rest. Thanks again for all the history. You have an uncanny knack for finding parallels to now from back when. I'm the one of your readers who has been talking obsessively about reactionary vs. conservative. Just got a new copy of A. O. Hershman's The Rhetoric of Reaction, and it's on my bedside table. I recommend it. The conservatives are fighting the reactionaries now, and that's a very good thing, I reckon.
I am reading “Don’t Think of An Elephant” by Lakoff. I read about it here in the comments. I read the political news so differently after reading him. Brilliant!
Thank you for the rest and respite conveyed by this picture. Best to you as you start your school year. The rest of us learn from you every day with much gratitude for the history and insights.
Somewhere I have a greeting card I saved just for me… I think it’s watercolor and there’s a tiny figure on a very long swing, high in the air against an amber sky ; inside it says, “My swing with the highest!” That was me in the backyard as a kid… Swinging and belting out childhood songs. Maybe I’ll give that a try now. Lol. At 78
Sheesh. Edits. Red face. Card read “My swing was the highest!” Most of the picture is the sky but it seems to me at the very bottom there is green grass and maybe even a few daisies. Somewhere in comments someone spoke of the daisies and the swing together. Ah, the memories.
I’m in the throes of going through multiple bankers’ boxes at the moment, family files, and when the card surfaces, I’ll be sure to post!
The swings always beckon me. I grew up in Georgia, when A/C wasn’t common. In a swing, you can make the air move around you, even when it doesn’t want to. ❤️
What an image! I love how you say it… So poetic. I don’t think I’m equipped to do so, but my third grade imagination explores the idea of a poem addressing air in its many different behaviors. Cool! I’m in touch with a friend in Switzerland who is a professor mainly of poetry and he might have some fun with this concept. He’s 56 but I taught him when he was a spunky eight year old here in California… Facebook has its benefits. Lol
Please…. As this school year begins, the tone is different. Keep our teachers across the nation in your thoughts. They battle for respect of their profession as they fight to respect the oath of the profession to help our students learn and to keep them safe…..from forces never encountered before in this time of the common good of public education.
Thank you, Professor Richardson for your dedication to teaching and learning.
Another good one, Christine. The other day I walked my dog near the local elementary school. A woman was carrying a load of teaching goodies towards the school. I thanked her for her dedication and she almost fell down.....surprised that a stranger would thank her. Yes, teachers deserve our thanks and respect everyday.
Yes, Sister Pam. Being sure to show support towards a teacher in word or deed means more than one can imagine. Sometimes to the point that we keep our teachers in the profession. So many of them are ready to flee.
I am in deep gratitude for you Heather. Your posts keep me hopeful and focused on taking positive actions where it will make the biggest difference in our upcoming midterms. Right now I am contributing to grassroots organizations in the swing states that have been vetted by Flip the Vote, a non profit all volunteer organization. They have identified 7 grassroots organizations that work year round in community building, education and registering voters! These organizations were successful in flipping the House in 2018 and giving us the Senate and the presidency in 2020! Check them out folks. You will be inspired and hopeful about our upcoming election cycles! Xo
People who wish to do Likewise, consider The States Project. Some of us who originally met here as readers and commenters started a Giving Circle called Tending To Democracy. Here is the link for information:
While I’m certain you can’t read all of the hundreds of comments you get on each of your posts, I just need to say how much I appreciate you. Thank you for sharing your expertise and perspective. You are a gift in these tumultuous times.
A perfect way to start our day with HCR…” a gift” and it keeps on giving! Thank you!
This well said and what I would like to say to you, too, HCR.
I feel the same. You have helped me immensely and I so appreciate you and your knowledge. Thank you!
Ditto
Ditto
I think we all rejoice to some extent when you take some time for yourself, Heather. Enjoy your evening in your beautiful environs.
Love this photo and hope you have some time to read a book, take a nap or just space out in such a beautiful spot. My days are grounded by your letters - Thank you!
Thank you, Professor, for reminding us of the gift of healing in our natural world. The pictures are always a respite. Poetry too can be a place that takes us to Peace. One of the favorites, as we take care of the environment and it gives back to us. I’m sure this poem speaks for many of us.
“The Peace of Wild Things”
by Wendell Berry
“When despair for the world grows in me and I wake in the night at the least sound in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be, I go and lie down where the wood drake rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds. I come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief. I come into the presence of still water. And I feel above me the day-blind stars waiting with their light. For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.”
Wendell Berry
from New Collected Poems (Counterpoint, 2012)
Copyright (c) 2012 by Wendell Berry, reproduced by permission of Counterpoint
So so grateful to Heather. And your thoughts shared here, including this exquisite poem, sing in the same key as Heather. I’m certain I’m not the only one who needed it and have been calmed. Thank you!
Katherine, thank you for commenting. I posted the poem on my fb page to start the week on a note of great beauty.
Berry is as relevant today as he ever was - love his work.
That is one of my all-time favorite poems, Irenie.
Nadia's red chairs remind me of William Carlos Williams' poem, "The Red Wheelbarrow":
so much depends
upon
a red wheel
barrow
glazed with rain
water
beside the white
chickens
Irenie, I posted the poem on my fb page. Just beautiful. Thank you!
Thank you friends, for your notes about Wendell Berry’s poem, “The Peace of Wild Things.” I was waiting for a picture or opportunity to post it. Even if its form didn’t post quite right, the words, the intention, his Truth is there. The beauty. To connect to our world, our experiences. Poetry can be healing and can awaken us. Teach us. And yes, Mim, it’s true, isn’t it? “So much depends…” Onward!
Beautiful post. I love the photos that Heather posts and this poem is a great partner to this photo.
This is beautiful and have me chills and comfort knowing I’m not alone.
“I come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief.”
Thank you all.
I love this Wendell Berry poem!!...peace where the wild things are...Rest!!
I keep reading this again and again. So very calming. Thank you again and again.
Aaaargh!
No seriously have a night off. Thanks for the sanity and perspective.
Your posts and pictures keep me sane. Thank you for walking with each of us.
At 74 years old and always a west coast person, I had no knowledge about the Atlantic coast of Maine. After 10/30/2020 when my son and daughter in law married at The Cliff House in York, Maine, your photos resonate.
I am originally from Maine and absolutely love HCR’s photos of my home state. A bit of nostalgia nearly every week. 🤗
My daughter cast her fate to the UK in 2003 and since the flight time from Heathrow to Boston is equivalent to ours from SFO to the Maine coast, for family summer vacations, it is beguiling.
Had my first "getaway" date with the love of my life at the Cliff House. And after shedding the corporate jobs we eventually moved to York. Opened a small business. 15 fine years. I miss it. A lot.
Take it easy, Heather. You deserve a rest. Thanks again for all the history. You have an uncanny knack for finding parallels to now from back when. I'm the one of your readers who has been talking obsessively about reactionary vs. conservative. Just got a new copy of A. O. Hershman's The Rhetoric of Reaction, and it's on my bedside table. I recommend it. The conservatives are fighting the reactionaries now, and that's a very good thing, I reckon.
I am reading The Political Mind by George Lakoff. It’s at least 10 years old and sounds prophetic for then. Must have anticipated tfg.
I am reading “Don’t Think of An Elephant” by Lakoff. I read about it here in the comments. I read the political news so differently after reading him. Brilliant!
Thanks. I’ll look for that. I NEED to read the news differently!
It looks so relaxing...Thank you Heather for all of your hard work and this beautiful photo. Sleep well.
The chairs all have their back to the water. I wonder if someone is using them to make a statement.
Please take care of yourself. You are needed.
Have a great semester, Heather!
Thank you for the rest and respite conveyed by this picture. Best to you as you start your school year. The rest of us learn from you every day with much gratitude for the history and insights.
I'd go for the swing! Thanks.
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTgGGdat1Q16IZRKb771LJnSuaMrEaqpWR-6A&usqp=CAU
Somewhere I have a greeting card I saved just for me… I think it’s watercolor and there’s a tiny figure on a very long swing, high in the air against an amber sky ; inside it says, “My swing with the highest!” That was me in the backyard as a kid… Swinging and belting out childhood songs. Maybe I’ll give that a try now. Lol. At 78
Sheesh. Edits. Red face. Card read “My swing was the highest!” Most of the picture is the sky but it seems to me at the very bottom there is green grass and maybe even a few daisies. Somewhere in comments someone spoke of the daisies and the swing together. Ah, the memories.
I’m in the throes of going through multiple bankers’ boxes at the moment, family files, and when the card surfaces, I’ll be sure to post!
The swings always beckon me. I grew up in Georgia, when A/C wasn’t common. In a swing, you can make the air move around you, even when it doesn’t want to. ❤️
What an image! I love how you say it… So poetic. I don’t think I’m equipped to do so, but my third grade imagination explores the idea of a poem addressing air in its many different behaviors. Cool! I’m in touch with a friend in Switzerland who is a professor mainly of poetry and he might have some fun with this concept. He’s 56 but I taught him when he was a spunky eight year old here in California… Facebook has its benefits. Lol
Please…. As this school year begins, the tone is different. Keep our teachers across the nation in your thoughts. They battle for respect of their profession as they fight to respect the oath of the profession to help our students learn and to keep them safe…..from forces never encountered before in this time of the common good of public education.
Thank you, Professor Richardson for your dedication to teaching and learning.
Unita! 🗽💜
Another good one, Christine. The other day I walked my dog near the local elementary school. A woman was carrying a load of teaching goodies towards the school. I thanked her for her dedication and she almost fell down.....surprised that a stranger would thank her. Yes, teachers deserve our thanks and respect everyday.
Yes, Sister Pam. Being sure to show support towards a teacher in word or deed means more than one can imagine. Sometimes to the point that we keep our teachers in the profession. So many of them are ready to flee.
Unita. 🗽💜
I am in deep gratitude for you Heather. Your posts keep me hopeful and focused on taking positive actions where it will make the biggest difference in our upcoming midterms. Right now I am contributing to grassroots organizations in the swing states that have been vetted by Flip the Vote, a non profit all volunteer organization. They have identified 7 grassroots organizations that work year round in community building, education and registering voters! These organizations were successful in flipping the House in 2018 and giving us the Senate and the presidency in 2020! Check them out folks. You will be inspired and hopeful about our upcoming election cycles! Xo
People who wish to do Likewise, consider The States Project. Some of us who originally met here as readers and commenters started a Giving Circle called Tending To Democracy. Here is the link for information:
https://www.grapevine.org/giving-circle/1XQhnyD/Tending-to-Democracy
The rope swing between the birch trees bring back fond memories! 💖 Thanks for sharing. 👏
May you & teachers have a great school year.