tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6049626897935912366.post4445627406650523623..comments2024-03-28T15:00:12.581-04:00Comments on Letters from a Hill Farm: Today's essay by Donald HallNanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15547916206007733970noreply@blogger.comBlogger45125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6049626897935912366.post-29748400116688828482012-05-23T16:38:25.715-04:002012-05-23T16:38:25.715-04:00Not a bit of a 'time-waster' - but a wonde...Not a bit of a 'time-waster' - but a wonderful thing to do! I love it.Nanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15547916206007733970noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6049626897935912366.post-54257651534031468712012-05-23T16:15:38.097-04:002012-05-23T16:15:38.097-04:00RE "Locating" I have a subscription to a...RE "Locating" I have a subscription to ancestry.com which makes the census since 1790 available online in a searchable format. By paging through the appropriate county and township I found Mr. Hall's grandparents and went on to 'find' a number of the relatives and neighbors mentioned in the book .A bit of a time-waster perhaps, but as I mentioned, it was a long winter evening when I was living in WY.<br />I will be surprised if Hillsong isn't added to your list of favorites!Morning's Minionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01912356455981434029noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6049626897935912366.post-71122878721961031712012-05-20T19:01:30.299-04:002012-05-20T19:01:30.299-04:00What do you mean 'locating?'
The way I se...What do you mean 'locating?' <br />The way I see it, there were limitations when we were younger too. :<)<br />And I wanted to tell you the Lee Huntington book just arrived. There's a blurb on the back from the late Noel Perrin, a man we whose work we much admire. Tom also knew him, having taught his daughter in high school.Nanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15547916206007733970noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6049626897935912366.post-30460487289822829882012-05-20T18:58:46.461-04:002012-05-20T18:58:46.461-04:00I found it! About two inches from Amsterdam on the...I found it! About two inches from Amsterdam on the map. :<)<br />So pleased you enjoyed the post.Nanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15547916206007733970noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6049626897935912366.post-36650699345275979142012-05-20T17:40:15.345-04:002012-05-20T17:40:15.345-04:00I've enjoyed reading "String--" seve...I've enjoyed reading "String--" several times, as well as 'Seasons at Eagle Pond.' [I'm partial to essays which are collected into a seasonal format.] I once spent an agreeable cold winter evening locating the various folks mentioned in Mr. Hall's New Hampshire locale.<br />I appreciate your thoughts on growing older--I'm trying to encourage a wry good humor about the limitations I sense looming ahead of me.Morning's Minionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01912356455981434029noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6049626897935912366.post-63816487806481261482012-05-20T16:07:07.613-04:002012-05-20T16:07:07.613-04:00I am on vacation visiting Vlieland, if you want to...I am on vacation visiting Vlieland, if you want to know where that is...Google Maps. Now i have the time to read Your blog and all Posts. Donald Hall is New to me and i Will dig down in my box of old New Yorkers and find THE essay. Your selection of quotes is wonderful, made me laugh out loud!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6049626897935912366.post-35868616657383734512012-05-20T13:19:04.578-04:002012-05-20T13:19:04.578-04:00It is just an essay, not a book/memoir. There is a...It is just an essay, not a book/memoir. There is a newish book of poetry called The Back Chamber, in which some of the same ideas are expressed.Nanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15547916206007733970noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6049626897935912366.post-75860741150824513572012-05-20T07:15:05.179-04:002012-05-20T07:15:05.179-04:00Lovely post, Nan. I especially enjoyed the quotes...Lovely post, Nan. I especially enjoyed the quotes you included. I love reading memoirs written in old age by people who observe so closely and write so skillfully. Will look for this one.jenclairhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06046532245054911248noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6049626897935912366.post-29046847723740493872012-05-17T11:43:48.675-04:002012-05-17T11:43:48.675-04:00I just found your blog, and added the link to my b...I just found your blog, and added the link to my book report of A Place To Die. I'll be over and read all about this fellow and his book.<br />I understand exactly what you are saying. I see it with people who aren't even writers. There are too many things to do! I wonder if writers get together and talk about how to balance. Certainly blogs and Facebook and twitter bring one's name into the forefront. I think you know that I first heard of your book at Goodreads.Nanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15547916206007733970noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6049626897935912366.post-50049748719690070512012-05-17T10:40:47.041-04:002012-05-17T10:40:47.041-04:00Slowly, Nan, thanks for asking! The problem with b...Slowly, Nan, thanks for asking! The problem with blogging, twittering etc it seems harder and harder to find time to write books. One also gets absorbed in other people's books. I have spent many hours in the last few weeks with an off-beat police novel by David Swinson for my blog. But it was worth it!Dorothy Jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17199627468549426478noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6049626897935912366.post-25299412685135727622012-05-17T10:25:21.697-04:002012-05-17T10:25:21.697-04:00All the times we've driven past the house, we ...All the times we've driven past the house, we have never seen him outdoors!Nanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15547916206007733970noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6049626897935912366.post-67719573658550282412012-05-17T10:17:03.405-04:002012-05-17T10:17:03.405-04:00I read the New Yorker piece too and enjoyed it ver...I read the New Yorker piece too and enjoyed it very much. Donald Hall is a favorite of mine and my husband and I had the pleasure of meeting him and Jane Kenyon and Maxine Kumin him many times, at book readings, when we lived in Boston MA. Ocasionally, we'd drive up to NH and drive past his home hoping we'd "run" into him. Thanks.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6049626897935912366.post-63808177623172950902012-05-16T21:54:57.645-04:002012-05-16T21:54:57.645-04:00Oh, thank you so much. You'll like the intervi...Oh, thank you so much. You'll like the interview, I think.<br />They smell just wonderful.Nanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15547916206007733970noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6049626897935912366.post-28878259601693868682012-05-16T21:45:23.712-04:002012-05-16T21:45:23.712-04:00I read this earlier, Nan, then went on an online w...I read this earlier, Nan, then went on an online wander to see what the library system has on Donald Hall. I'm in luck and will look to check out Sting to Short . . . and several others soon. I'll have to come back to hear the interview. <br /><br />My grandmother saved string, and pins, and waxed paper. A product of the Great Depression. <br /><br />Wonderful post, Nan, and I can just about smell those lilacs.lifeonthecutoffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14657395265006688388noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6049626897935912366.post-9294270099627858862012-05-16T15:53:51.116-04:002012-05-16T15:53:51.116-04:00And we really do, Nan! It is so precious, having a...And we really do, Nan! It is so precious, having a loving family, I wish everybody could have one.Librarianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05704656564078750607noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6049626897935912366.post-8895226843488057312012-05-16T14:06:22.305-04:002012-05-16T14:06:22.305-04:00If you listen to the audio interview, he talks abo...If you listen to the audio interview, he talks about keeping things 'just in case' they might be needed. I remember hearing about older relatives that saved string, and I'm sure lots of other stuff.Nanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15547916206007733970noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6049626897935912366.post-31827287976755874252012-05-16T13:34:56.433-04:002012-05-16T13:34:56.433-04:00I have the book... not because I went looking for ...I have the book... not because I went looking for it, or knew who he was, but because of a story of a relative that saved string ~ because it might come in handy someday, and there was nothing wrong with it. Generations of people who recycled and reused before it was "fashionable", imagine that. I have always been drawn to the past, to "Old" people, to the stories and to the folks who built our little New England from scratch long before we were thought of. <br />Thanks for sharing! :)))))Melodyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10229439546427952540noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6049626897935912366.post-47437826894756317862012-05-16T12:49:57.415-04:002012-05-16T12:49:57.415-04:00Thanks for the recommendation. I love your last wo...Thanks for the recommendation. I love your last words. 'ready or not'Nanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15547916206007733970noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6049626897935912366.post-90606093794400710422012-05-16T12:49:00.596-04:002012-05-16T12:49:00.596-04:00I think that we only children didn't have sibl...I think that we only children didn't have siblings to go off and play with when company came or we went on visits, so we were included in the conversations of older people. <br />Yeah, Tom isn't very grey either. Ha! I got my first one in my twenties.<br />He still lives in that house. We've driven by it many times over the years. Our kids would say, 'there's Donald Hall's house.' <br />It looks pretty much like ours from the outside. Old farmhouse. The barns at our place were gone before we moved in so we had to have a new one built.Nanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15547916206007733970noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6049626897935912366.post-89019799785436215432012-05-16T12:44:45.997-04:002012-05-16T12:44:45.997-04:00I do understand. Isn't it just the weirdest th...I do understand. Isn't it just the weirdest thing. On an optimistic note, my mother-in-law and her husband planted a tree at 82 and 87! I so love that.Nanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15547916206007733970noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6049626897935912366.post-80505486245210289052012-05-16T12:42:08.082-04:002012-05-16T12:42:08.082-04:00Don't be ashamed! That is one of his most wond...Don't be ashamed! That is one of his most wonderful books. I so love it.Nanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15547916206007733970noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6049626897935912366.post-90314758208996203002012-05-16T12:41:13.324-04:002012-05-16T12:41:13.324-04:00We went to see him when he was at Plymouth State U...We went to see him when he was at Plymouth State Univ. on stage with the poet who has since killed himself - Liam Rector. <br /><br />The very best time though was at the Frost Place. I wrote a bit about it here:<br /><br />http://lettersfromahillfarm.blogspot.com/2007/08/further-afieldpoetry-reading.htmlNanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15547916206007733970noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6049626897935912366.post-30713928755392573842012-05-16T11:57:22.782-04:002012-05-16T11:57:22.782-04:00I have always loved the closeness between you and ...I have always loved the closeness between you and your folks. You really seem to enjoy being together.Nanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15547916206007733970noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6049626897935912366.post-55156635787466597552012-05-16T11:56:02.153-04:002012-05-16T11:56:02.153-04:00I am. I just pretend to be in my sixties so people...I am. I just pretend to be in my sixties so people think I'm wise. :<)<br />There are a few of his poems here in my letters if you want to get to know him a bit more.Nanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15547916206007733970noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6049626897935912366.post-15241111634259495842012-05-16T11:37:57.730-04:002012-05-16T11:37:57.730-04:00Lovely post- thank you so much. I listened to the ...Lovely post- thank you so much. I listened to the interview- such feeling,wisdom. If you haven't already heard it, you might enjoy the Maurice Sendek Fresh Air with Terry Gross interview on NPR. I am referring to the last interview he had with her- certainly touches on this theme of growing older that so many of us are entering,ready or not. <br />Marylittlemancathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17042609230502564280noreply@blogger.com