Friday, March 8, 2013

Returning, with a poem by May Sarton

March-Mad

The strangely radiant skies have come
To lift us out of winter's gloom,
A paler more transparent blue,
A softer gold light on fresh snow.
It is a naked time that bares
Our slightly worn-down hopes and cares,
And sets us listening for frogs,
And sends us to seed catalogues
To bury our starved eyes and noses
In an extravagance of roses,
And order madly at this season
When we have had enough of reason.

May Sarton
from As Does New Hampshire and other poems, 1967

52 comments:

  1. Crying with joy! Welcome back, dearest friend. I've missed you!!!

    Love, Les

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  2. You will certainly lift many of us out of winter's gloom just by seeing your return here! Welcome back! Such a delight to see you again.

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  3. Dear Nan,
    How lovely to see your post here!
    Hope you are doing well and of course, I know you are looking forward to Spring.
    I LOVE the book about Lady Bird that I won in the giveaway, I LOVE it!
    Take care! (I said Rabbit, Rabbit on March 1st and thought of you!!)
    xx
    Love,
    Kay G.

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  4. That's exactly how today felt.
    thanks for that!

    Here's another poem posted today that I liked, by a Maritime author:
    http://www.shereefitch.com/blog/2013/3/8/international-womens-day-2014.html

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    1. I'll go look it up. I really do love poetry, and know far too little about Maritime poetry and fiction.

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  5. Lovely to see a post from you, Nan. Gorgeous poem, the seed catalogue bit is certainly true in this house. LOL.

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    1. Oh, thanks. In these internet shopping days, I still do love getting those catalogues in the mail.

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  6. How nice to see you again, Nan! I'm getting garden catalogs almost every day just now, and they're a cheerful spot in the winter gloom. Wonderful brightening poem :)
    Jeanne

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    1. And you. I had lost track of you in the past few years. Thanks for stopping by, and now I've added your blog to my list.

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  7. It's nice to see you back! It was a little bit of a surprise to realize how much I missed reading your posts, it felt like a friend was gone. It's funny, isn't it, the different ways you can touch lives . . .

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    1. Thank you, and is there a way to contact you?? I've got lynches in my life!

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  8. Welcome back! What a lovely way to start the weekend!

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  9. I am so delighted to see this lovely poem from you! What a nice surprise to find you in my Reader. God bless!

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  10. Oh Nan! what a lovely surprise - and thank you for the poem - so lovely to see you on my list of blogs when I switched on this morning.

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  11. Hello, Nan! I'm so happy to see you.
    Thanks so much for the poem - very appropriate for our slowly changing season.

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  12. Nan and May and "listening for frogs" all at one time. What a lovely start to a day!

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  13. Love May Sarton, and loved seeing that you posted a blog. Hope you had a good winter. I'm finished with treatments and feeling stronger each week. We were just saying this morning that we can hardly wait to open the windows and doors to air out the house. We've had to stay in entirely too much this winter, but today the sun is shining and it is supposed to be up in the high 40s! Nan, I hope you are back for good but if not, I'll look forward to occasional posts. Good to hear from you.

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    1. I'm so very happy you are better. Airing out the house both physically and metaphorically.

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  14. Hello, Nan, lovely to see a post from again! Yours is one of the first blogs I read and when I think about book blogs, yours immediately comes to mind - welcome back! I hope you and yours are all keeping well.

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    1. Thank you. I am still not sure how or if I'll talk much about books. I did get weary of writing about them, but we'll see.

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  15. Nan! Welcome back! I love the poem too - I was checking out seed catalogues last week, in desperation as this winter seems so long. We promptly had a snow storm after. Today's it's all melting, and I am going out this afternoon in the hopes of hearing some returning birds, and lifting my face to the sunshine. I'm so happy you posted, and I hope all is well with you and yours.

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    1. Thank you. Any snow this time of year doesn't last long. Our spring birds aren't back yet, but the feeder ones have been sweet these winter months.

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  16. Big Smile, Nan! Welcome back!

    Deirdre

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    1. Thanks for writing. And I adored your dog card email.

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  17. So glad you're back, Nan! You have been sorely missed. Knowing you're back and reading your post has made my day!

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    1. Do I remember right that you were going to move?? Email if you want and tell me all about it.

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  18. Adding my welcome back to the others'. Happy to see you here again!

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    1. Thank you. Btw, have three Boston crime books now. :<)

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  19. Welcome back! I was so happy to see you pop up on my Google Reader (and thank heavens I left you there!).... you don't know how many times I've been tempted to write a comment just asking if you were OK. But I restrained myself, because you deserved the break...but so happy to see you back. And now I'll go back and read the poem, which I am sure is wonderful, because you picked it out.

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    1. Thanks.
      Did I just read that google is ending its reader? I just use my sidebar bloglist so it won't matter to me, but I know a lot of people use it.

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  20. What a perfect post to open up your blog with!!!

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  21. Oh so happy you're back, Nan. For a minute I did a double-take and thought I must be seeing things. But here you are. All's right with the world. :)

    But how sad I am to read about the passing of Daisy.But 30 years is a good long life and as you say, she had a great one. That doesn't mean I'm not suddenly misty. I loved the idea of you having a donkey. I would have done the same if I'd been blessed with farmland. I do believe in the loving souls of animals.

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    1. No one is more surprised than I am. :<)
      There's another post a while ago about Juno, our other donkey, if you'd like to read it:
      http://lettersfromahillfarm.blogspot.com/2007/12/our-gentle-donkey.html

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  22. Replies
    1. Thanks, dear one. Margaret showed me your very nice Facebook note when I stopped writing. So kind.

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  23. Welcome back, dear Nan....Until you commented on my blog yesterday, I hadn't realized you were back....I missed you. And hope, if you ever decide to stop again you don't close comments. You don't ever have to read them, but I just think it would be kinder to your readers! I was so sad when you stopped, even though I think I understood.

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    1. I am most surprised. I was sure I would not blog again. I'm sorry you were upset by my closing comments. I felt it was best at the time. My email address was still on the blog, and I did get emails.

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  24. Nan, I am delighted to see you are back! I took a break from blogging, unannounced--just didn't feel like blogging. With the arrival of spring, I find I want to blog again. Go figure, really need to learn more about design, use of photographs, etc. so it will be a process but I'm back on the path ;-).

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    1. Thank you! If I can help in anyway, you may email and ask. Not that I will necessarily know. :<)

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  25. Nan, I"m so glad to see you back! I've missed you. Welcome home. I like May Sarton too.

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    1. Thanks. I clicked on your name and it came up 'blogless Sheila' - how I laughed. That's great.

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