My Newest Addiction.....

Last Wednesday I drove out to a farm stand that also sells incredible pies. I bought an Apple Crisp pie for my husband's birthday which we celebrated on Thursday. Tucked in amongst the fruits and veggies were these bags of sweet potato chips. I bought a bag and now I am hooked. Crispy, crunchy crisps of subtle sweetness sans the salt. I can't wait to get more :)

Sweet Signs of Spring

I was looking out the bathroom window this morning and caught a glimpse of purple loveliness. With camera in hand I ran out to my still sleepy garden to find my crocus in full bloom. Other sweet signs of Spring, the chipper call of the Tufted Titmouse, my goldfish swimming around in full view in my pond, the emergence of my Autumn Joy Sedum and tons and tons of weeds in my garden.

Emily Dickinson - A little Madness in the Spring A little Madness in the Spring Is wholesome even for the King, But God be with the Clown -- Who ponders this tremendous scene -- This whole Experiment of Green -- As if it were his own!

Grief has 1000 Faces

Last night I was reading an article on the funeral of Natasha Richardson in my local online newspaper. The newspaper allowed comments and I being the curious type decided the read what people were saying. To say I was taken back is an understatement. I expected a flood of comments expressing sadness, what I found instead were people "measuring" grief. Comments like (paraphrasing here)...."I found it odd that Liam wore no tie to the funeral", "Why do her sons always seem to be smirking", "I found it weird that Liam waved to the press, not once but twice", "Isn't it weird that Vanessa Redgrave wore white" and "If that was my daughter I would be hysterical and unable to function".
Reading all those judgmental comments got me thinking about some of the rules some of us have regarding grief. We must wear black, we must be crying all the time, smiles are completely out of the questions and men must wear ties, etc.. To do otherwise implies you can't be grieving or grieving hard enough. Who made up these rules? Does a grieving person who smiles, doesn't have a tie on or is wearing white.... have less pain or loves the deceased less than the griever who has followed all those unwritten rules? I don't think so.
There really is no right or wrong way to grieve. Some shut down completely and others put a brave face on and give the appearance of being a trouper. While grieving, it's still possible to smile, laugh, go to work, make dinner and dare I say....enjoy life just a little every now and then? Grief may be the teller at your local bank or the Mom that strolls her baby by your house every morning... it could be your doctor, your neighbor, your hairdresser and it may even be you. Grief has 1000 faces! It doesn't always have to be a face with tears and it doesn't mean they are hurting any less......

Photo Challenge from Jenni

Jenni tagged me for this photo challenge :) I was supposed to pick the 8th picture from the 8th photo folder....but truth be told, I only have 6 folders. I chose the 6th folder and 8th picture. The picture is of my backyard pond. The vegetation is an assortment of luscious round Lily leaves and tall Arrowhead plants. There are two white Lily blooms. The Lilies in my pond are of the hardy variety meaning they come back every Summer. I currently have watermelon pink, white and lilac purple lilies. I love finding frogs and dragonflies lounging around on the lily pads. I can't wait for Summer to come so I can show you how my backyard looks and what kind of creatures visit.

Wintery Pictures

Nor'easter of 2009

Yup, typical scene at the local supermarket whenever there is a snow storm barreling down on us :) People loading up on essential food items.... milk, bread, eggs and then the long list of non-essential, also referred to as "comfort food". Examples of blizzard comfort food are ice cream, cookies, doughnuts, chips, soda, TV dinners and of course......no shopping cart is complete without a few Entenmann's. Entenmann's makes the most incredible baked good items. My favorite is their Crumb Cake, Devil's Food doughnuts and Raspberry Cheese Danish.
Anticipation of a Nor'easter is comparable to the arrival of Santa Claus. There is more fun and excitement in the waiting than the actual event. For the last two days no one has talked about anything but the storm. Then there are the never-ending discussions of who has to go to work, how will they get to work, kids scared to get too excited about the possibility of a snow day from school, and sitting in front of the TV watching the most popular channel in the world, "The Weather Channel". We must name the phenomenon of checking the weather every 5 minutes. We have been doing it all day. You can hear the fear in my daughters voices as they say "Instead of 16" they are now saying 14", like that is really going to make a difference with going to work or school. Time for me to go sit in front of my TV to watch more Weather channel while I eat some homemade brownies :)

I thought you might enjoy these two links from my local paper. Lots of great pics.

Historical Long Island Snow Storms

Preparations for the Nor'easter of 2009