Mockingbird Hill Cottage — Page 717 — Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Sunday Snow

January 20, 2019 at 9:41 am by Claudia

We got a lot of snow, but less than predicted it seems. This “official” assessment is based on looking out the window. We’ll see the reality when we go outside to tackle it. We’ve also had sleet, which most likely compacted the snow. So far, so good. We haven’t lost power. It’s supposed to get windy later and the temps are going to plummet tonight and tomorrow, so we want to get things shoveled before then.

The oil wasn’t delivered. It won’t be delivered until Monday. So say a little prayer for us that we have heat until tomorrow. I’m more than a bit worried, though Don seems to think we’ll be fine. (That’s typical: I worry. Don doesn’t.) Needless to say, I wasn’t a happy camper when I found out they weren’t coming. On the other hand, not giving them enough lead time was our fault and, as they told me, they have 600 customers who were asking for deliveries before the storm. They’re working their tushes off.

We had the best time with Rick and Doug yesterday. Great conversation, lots of laughter – we could have stayed there for hours but we wanted to get to the store before the snow started falling. I thought you might enjoy these photos.

Doug, Sam, and Rick. Don took this and managed to get a great capture. Sam is smiling!

And you know who these people are. I bought that snake plant for Rick and Doug as a housewarming gift and it’s really taking off. And that fire! I wish we had a fireplace here at the cottage. Rick and Doug have two – one in the living room, as well.

So. Today is about snow clean up. Yuck, yuck, yuck. But it must be done.

I’m almost finished reading James Lee Burke’s latest – should finish today. Then I’ll start Something of His Art: Walking to Lübeck with J.S. Bach. Can’t wait!

Happy Sunday.

A Bookish Package

January 19, 2019 at 10:01 am by Claudia

We awaiting the start of the storm, which won’t be until late afternoon, early evening. The forecast varies. It all depends on the line that will emerge at some point during the storm; those who live above that line will have mostly snow and a lot of it, those who live below will have snow turning to sleet and/or ice. Most forecasts for our area are predicting 8 – 12 inches. However, it seems to be a very fluid situation, so we’ll see.

In the end, we have no choice, do we?

But we’re starting our day with french toast over at Rick and Doug’s. We haven’t seen them for a while; they were traveling and then Rick had some minor surgery, and we were busy, as well. We’re overdue.

My package from John Sandoe Books came yesterday. I’ve been waiting and waiting. When Don came up the drive with a stack of mail and I saw a brown envelope, I shouted out to him “Where’s the brown package from??” He looked down, started to read the label out loud, “John Sandoe…” and he looked up at me and grinned.

I can’t show you all of the package because I don’t want my address revealed, but it looked just like the packages I saw stacked in a corner when we visited the shop in October. I’ll show you bits:

I oh so carefully opened the envelope (I’m saving it, of course) and gently pulled out the inner package.

It was wrapped in this paper.

Oh my! If you know me by now, you know I’m going to frame it.

Again, ever so gently, I removed the paper, doing my best to keep it intact.

And here’s the book:

It was just like I imagined it might be, when I took a picture of that stack of packages waiting to be mailed to customers throughout the British Isles, and beyond. At the time, I thought how cool it would be to live in England and have packages arrive from John Sandoe Books. It wasn’t until I got home and read their IG post on this particular book that I realized I could treat myself to that same pleasure.

I wrote a post about it on IG – you may have seen it – and I spoke of the same things I’ve written about here, as well as a level of customer service that we hardly see anymore. Personal, kind notes via email, a carefully wrapped package, knowledge shared freely and earnestly – I felt as if I had made some new friends across the pond.

Imagine my delight when I saw this note from John Sandoe in response:

See what I mean? Not only a thank you, but a recommendation as well!

Can I move to London simply for the pleasure of visiting John Sandoe Books whenever I want to?

I’m sort of not kidding.

London or Paris. Maybe London with the wonderful option of visiting Paris whenever I want to. That would be heaven for me. I love where I live, but if I had the opportunity to move there, I just might do it.

Hey, I can dream, can’t I?

Okay. Have to get a move on. If you don’t hear from me on Sunday or Monday, we’ve lost power. Fingers crossed that won’t happen.

Happy Saturday.

Mary Oliver

January 18, 2019 at 10:50 am by Claudia

My favorite poet passed away yesterday. And, from what I’ve seen on social media, Mary Oliver was the favorite poet of many, many people.

I don’t read a lot of poetry – except Shakespeare – but I do read Mary Oliver. She was accessible. She wrote beautifully, lyrically, but in a plain spoken way that resonated with her readers. She wrote of nature. She wrote of grief. She wrote of living a life of integrity, taking chances, being in the moment, looking around you. Seeing. Being. Becoming.

I first discovered her poems in the late eighties. My mentor at Boston University, who was a voice teacher, used them as teaching tools in his voice class. Each student was assigned one of her poems. Eventually, they had to interpret it. Speak it. Make the images come alive through their voices.

I quickly bought a volume of her poetry. And then another. And another.

Some of my Mary Oliver books – the white one on the left is a collection of her poems.

When I moved to San Diego and started teaching voice as well as speech and dialects, I did the same thing. I assigned Mary Oliver’s poems, especially her poems that told a story, to my students. For most of them, this assignment was their introduction to Mary Oliver.

I’ve had students write me in the years since thanking me for that introduction.

So when I heard that she had passed away yesterday, for an moment, I felt as if the breath had left my body.

Such a profound loss.

But what a life she led. I heard Krista Tippett interview her a few years back. She was all I thought she would be and more. More than any other writer, she seemed to tap into my soul. She seemed to understand how I felt about nature and animals and people and life. And she taught me to look even more closely at the world around me.

She was preceded in death by her longtime partner, photographer Molly Malone.

She leaves behind her words, her images, her wisdom. I’m so grateful for that.

But oh, how we’ll miss her.

Rest in Peace.

Happy Friday.

Sunday Snow

A Bookish Package

Mary Oliver

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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