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Elaine Magliaro is a former teacher and school librarian who now teaches a children's literature course at a large university. Children's books and children's poetry are my passion.
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Back in 2011, I wrote a blog post about, Dare to Dream…Change the World, a poetry anthology that was to be published in the fall of 2012. The book was edited by Jill Corcoran and published by Kane Miller.
Here is Jill’s description of Dare to Dream from the book’s website:
Dare to Dream … Change the World pairs biographical and inspirational poems focusing on people who invented something, stood for something, said something, who defied the naysayers and not only changed their own lives, but the lives of people all over the world.
Janet Wong and I “paired” to write poems about the experience of an older woman who had contracted polio when she was youngand Dr. Jonas Salk, respectively. I chose Salk as my subject because I remember how frightened parents were back in the 1950s that their children might contract the dread disease—one that had crippled so many. Highly infectious, poliomyelitis—also known as infantile paralysis—chiefly affected children.
Jonas Salk changed the world for me and millions of others when he developed a polio vaccine that was both safe and effective.
The Dare to Dream anthology also includes poems about other well-known "dreamers"--including Temple Grandin, Anne Frank, Ashley Bryan, Georgia O'Keefe, Christa McAuliffe, and Steven Spielberg.
**********
Last Tuesday, Jill announced The Dare to Dream…Change the World Annual Writing Contest for Students. Here is an excerpt from her announcement:
BREAKING NEWS!
The Dare to Dream ... Change the World
Annual Writing Contest
for students grades three to eight will launch January 25th!
Grand prize winner receives $1500 worth
of Kane Miller and Usborne books
for a library of their choice
+
the top 30 poets will be published by Kane Miller Books
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A couple of weeks ago, I posted some pictures of the built-in bookcases that we had installed at our new home. I’ve already begun filling the shelves—even though we haven’t moved yet.
Julia likes to visit my “library,” look at all the pictures books, pull books off the shelves and “read” them. Sometimes, she insists on taking one of the books back over to her side of the house.
(BTW, we're planning to have another built-in bookcase made for our upstairs hallway. One can never have too many bookcases!)
I often grab my “gram cam” to snap pictures of Julia reading books.
Julia reading Miss Mary Mack.
Julia reading Merry Christmas, Ollie!
One of Julia’s new favorites isn’t a picture book. It’s Grace Lin’s Dumpling Days. One night last week, she refused to go to bed without the book. On Wednesday afternoon, she sat on the floor of the family room quietly flipping through the pages and looking at the illustrations/sketches that Grace included in her novel. That night, her dad told me she chose Dumpling Days over her favorite stuffed animal when he put her to sleep.
Your SUN poem "warmed" me. And your granddaughter is one lucky girl to be surrounded by so many books! Too funny that a novel is her current favorite. =)
Glad to see Julia with the books, Elaine. You are clever to have composed that poem "in the air'. Nice to have companion poems! You've given me an idea!
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Oh my goodness Elaine, Julia has gotten to be such a big little girl. OF COURSE she loves to read, how could she not. Beautiful bookcases! I never catch up on blogs, as much as I'd love to but something on facebook made me think to read yours tonight. I'm glad I did! Rebecca
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Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about “home”—a place where one lives and shares years of memorable experiences with family and friends. At my new home, I’ll have a lot more outdoor space—more than three acres. I’ll have beautiful gardens and a pool. Still, I know I’ll be sad about leaving my home of nearly thirty-seven years. I’ll definitely miss living close to the water…and in the place where my daughter grew up. I’ll be sorry to leave decades of happy memories behind. Yet, I’m also looking forward to moving on and living next door to my granddaughter Julia, my daughter, and my son-in-law...and to "making" new memories there.
The renovations on our new place are nearly complete. The custom-made bookshelves and china cabinet have been installed—so have the hardwood floors, the tiled floors in the bathrooms and entry way, the quartz countertops, the glass and slate backsplash, the new kitchen sink and faucet. Everything looks great. Now, we just need to buy a new refrigerator and do a little painting. We also have the awful task of cleaning out our “old” house.
We loved the built-in china cabinet so much that we may have a media/book/storage center built too. Since we’ll be downsizing from a seven-room house to a four-room in-law apartment, I want to make sure that we’ll have a place to put every little thing we need. I hate clutter!
China Cabinet
It may take me forever to transport my children’s books to my new abode! I have already started filling the shelves. The other day, I sat on the floor with Julia as she pulled books from the bottom shelves and began looking through them. Two of the words she says most often now are “book” and “read.” That warms her Grammy’s heart.
Here are two pictures of Julia "reading" books this week:
Written by David Elliott & illustrated by Holly Meade
Here is a memoir poem that I wrote many years ago about the home of my maternal grandparents--a place where I had many of the happiest experiences of my childhood.
A HOME FOR THE SEASONS
My grandparents’ house seems to hug their shady street.
A white duplex, its twin front doors
stand side by side
just three steps up from the sidewalk.
We always enter the house through the side door.
Stepping into the kitchen,
we find Babci sitting at the far end of the table
spooning filling onto circles of homemade dough
and making pierogis, crocheting afghans,
or snipping lacy designs from paper—
a traditional folk art she learned in Poland.
Sometimes we see her painting flowers on the cupboard doors
or hanging starched curtains she embroidered by hand.
The aroma of stuffed cabbage or babka baking in the oven
often greets us at the door.
Most days, Dzidzi spends outdoors tending to his garden
or painting the shutters green
or mending the picket fence
or building a backyard fireplace for summertime barbecues.
My grandparents always busy themselves
making their place a special place
for the family to gather throughout the year,
making it a home for all the seasons.
One of my all time favorite books in verse, Castles,Caves, and Honeycombs, is about the different kinds of homes where animals live. It was written by Linda Ashman and illustrated by Lauren Stringer. The book's text is spare, its vocabulary is rich, the rhythm is flawless, and the illustrations are gorgeous. It makes a wonderful baby gift!
Here is how the book begins:
Many places make a home -- A heap of twigs. A honeycomb. A castle with a tower or two. An aerie with a bird's eye view.
I could so relate to the excitements of moving to a new home, yet the poingnant feelings of leaving your old home since we are set to move soon as well. And what a wonderful poem about your grandmother's house. Happy moving! :)
71I just moved a month ago, Elaine, & left my home of 34 years. An estate sale is in the works, then I'll put the house up for sale. It's been quite a transition, what to bring, what to leave/sell, but I have a new place nearer to my daughter & family, although not quite as near as you! I wish you the best in all the process. It isn't exactly easy, but exciting to do new things too. I love your poem; such happy memories in those lines to keep for little Julia.
I was recently contacted via email by a freelance permissions consultant who was writing on behalf of the international section of the Educational Division of Oxford University Press. The consultant requested my permission to use two short poems that I had written and posted on Laura Salas’s blog. The publisher wants to include the poems in a 352 page, paperback textbook for students aged 14-16. Here’s the funny thing: I had forgotten that I had written the poems back in 2008 for one of Laura’s “15 Words or Less Poems” challenges.
Have any of you ever done that--forgotten poems that you had written? I hate to admit that I’ve done it more than once.
For Poetry Friday this week, I have another of my “forgotten” poems. I found it this morning when I was reading through one of the drafts of my unpublished poetry collection titled Docile Fossil. It’s a mask poem.
Hi Elaine, happy to see another of your mask poems! It's rather sad, isn't it, but would make children really think about those eggs found from so long ago. And, what a fun story about your 15 words or less poems, too! I hope you had a good holiday in your new home.
I really like this poem, Elaine. Mask poems are fun and encourage the writer and the reader to look at things from a different perspective. The rhythm and vowel sounds draw the reader forward. Congratulations on your other poems being "found" for the anthology!
What a great story! I have TOTALLY forgotten poems I've written...SO I've started a super secret, super private blog where I'm trying to archive every poem...at least from last year on!
buOh, this one breaks my heart...and I love it. You have the best way of getting inside something/someone else, Elaine. Many congrats on your new place, too...I just looked at your beautiful photos. Those cabinets! xo, a.
My granddaughter Julia loves books. That makes her grandma smile! One of her new favorites to look through is a poetry collection that I gave her for Christmas—Christmas Presents: Holiday Poetry. Yesterday, she even sat in my lap as I read her some of the poems in the book.
Another one of her favorite books is Jamberry. Here are some pictures that I took of her reading it recently.
I hope Julia will continue to love books. I’m happy that she doesn’t chew on them now.
Here’s a list poem that I wrote some time ago. I’m dedicating it to my granddaughter Julia today.
THINGS TO DO IF YOU ARE A BOOK
Be filled with words that tell a tale
of a little mouse and a giant whale of a runty pig and his spider friend who was true and loyal to the end of a child who ate just bread and jam of a funky guy, green eggs, and ham of a spunky girl named Ramona Q. of a Jabberwock that a young boy slew. Be filled with words and tell a tale that will let my imagination sail. Be a mystery or a fantasy and sing with sounds of poetry. Between your covers let there be a story that’s just right for me.
Love this poem, Elaine! It's so fun recognizing the books you refer to, and I imagine kids would delight in this aspect of the poem, too. Julia definitely looks like she is "reading" Jamberry! Doesn't it make your heart glad when grandkids (or anyone's children)love to read?
I know I’ve mentioned more than once on this blog that I LOVE writing animal mask poems. I have written dozens of them. A few years ago, I took the advice of my friends Grace Lin and Janet Wong and culled out all the poems about smaller animals and insects that children might observe in their backyards or find close to home for a collection. I also wrote some new poems. I had tentatively titled the collection Backyard Voices. Then I changed it to Listen! Listen! after I wrote the following poem to introduce my collection of animal mask poems:
Listen. Listen. Cup an ear.
Little creatures living near
Speak in voices we can hear.
One of the new poems that I wrote for Listen! Listen! is about insects that we hate to find invading our homes—TERMITES.
I love that Tastes so/Tastes so/Tastes so good! What a fun poem - and what a beautiful Julia. Lucky both of you! I missed you at NCTE, Elaine... xo, a.
The seasons come and go. The harvest is all gathered in And chilly north winds blow.
Orchards have shared their treasures,
The fields, their yellow grain, So open wide the doorway— Thanksgiving comes again.
THANKSGIVING TIME
Author Unknown
When all the leaves are off the boughs, And nuts and apples gathered in, And cornstalks waiting for the cows, And pumpkins safe in barn and bin, Then Mother says, "My children dear, The fields are brown, and autumn flies; Thanksgiving Day is very near, And we must make thanksgiving pies!"
Click here and here and here to read some more Thanksgiving poetry for children.
********************
Thanksgiving Song - Mary Chapin Carpenter
Thanksgiving Songs for Children - FIVE LITTLE TURKEYS - Turkey Kids
It’s been an interesting couple of weeks for me. We had a family Halloween party the last weekend in October at “The Farm.” That’s what my husband calls the house that we’ll be moving to at some time in the future. My daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter have already been living there for two months now.
My husband and I have plans to have some renovations done on our new living quarters before we move in. One thing that is a must—having a wall of bookshelves built in our upstairs office/den. I have thousands of children’s books that I don’t want to sell or give away. I want to keep them for my granddaughter Julia. She LOVES Books!
Last week, we had to batten down the hatches in preparation for Hurricane Sandy. Fortunately, the storm didn’t hit my area too hard. This week we had a nor’easter. We got snow here on Wednesday night. The weather is looking up here for the long weekend ahead.
I’ve been so busy taking care of Julia and with our renovations plans that I’ve found little time to blog or write poetry. I did, however, write a poem “in my head” a few weeks ago when I was taking Julia for a walk to a nearby park on a beautiful autumn day. Here it is:
So lovely, as always! I know the stress of moving. We just moved an entire state away with a long drive to work. It's been two months, and we're just not beginning to feel at home. I still miss the old house, but it was a necessary move. Best wishes to you and your family!
I always love the pics of Julia, Elaine. I am keeping my granddaughters this weekend! Your poem in your head is so sweet. I think I'll share with two little ones this weekend. Thank you!
The website of The Academy of American Poets has a special section devoted to Halloween. It features poems about ghosts, haunted houses, vampires, and the underworld. It even includes suggestions for poet costumes.
Happy Halloween, Elaine! Almost there. Thanks for the examples & the second one by McCord too.. Hope your little Julia is excited. My granddaughter is going as a pteranodon, & brought her costume to show me last weekend.
I got Julia a jack-o-lantern costume. It's adorable. She's walking a t a really good clip these days. I hope your granddaughter enjoys Halloween.
*****
Mary Lee,
I barely have time to blog these days. Making plans for renovations at our new home. Looking to install some bookshelves, hardwood floors, etc., there. Still living in our old homestead. I'm really going to miss my library here.
Thanks, Elaine! I enjoyed looking at the Poet Costumes -- I think bringing a red wheelbarrow full of candy if you are dressed as William Carlos Williams is a great idea :-)
One of the things I remember most about the autumns of my childhood is the scent of burning leaves. I miss that today. The following poem is based on my memory of a time I spent with two of my cousins at my grandparents’ house. We raked up a pile of autumn leaves and sat on wooden crates watching—and smelling—the leaves burn at dusk on a cool October day.
AUTUMN FIRE
By Elaine Magliaro
Two tall maple trees grow
in front of my grandparents’ house. In late October they shed their golden crowns. When the fallen leaves curl up like little brown bear cubs, we rake them into a pile at the side of the street. As dusk arrives Dzidzi sets our harvest afire with a single match. We sit on wooden crates at the sidewalk’s edge, watch the brittle leaves blossom into golden flames, smell autumn’s pungent breath. From the pyre summer rises, a small gray ghost, and drifts away into the darkening sky.
The three winners of Janet Wong’s book Declaration of Interdependence: Poems for an Election year are Gretchen, Bridget Wilson, and vezenimost. Congratulations to all of you!
Note to the winners: Please email me your names and addresses and I will send the books off to you.
5 Comments on Autumn Fire: A Memoir Poem & Book Winners Announcement, last added: 10/14/2012
Declaration of Interdependencewould be an excellent book to use in a middle grade classroom to spark a discussion about this year’s presidential election, voting and voting rights, electoral votes, and choosing a candidate—and a great way to integrate poetry and social studies!
Here’s one of the poems from the book:
Make Your Ballot Count
By Janet Wong
Darken the circles completely
(neatly, not outside the lines).
If you don’t know what to do
ask the helpers (follow the signs).
When you punch the holes, be firm
(no worm-like hanging chad).
When your vote is done,
your vote is gone.
A wrong vote? That’s too bad.
A wasted vote: so sad.
BOOK GIVEAWAY: I have three copies of Declaration of Interdependence (kindness of Janet Wong) to give away. If you’d like to have a chance to win a copy of the book, all you have to do is to leave a comment on this post. I’ll enter the names of all those who comment into a drawing and announce the names of the winners next Friday.
About the blog: This community is dedicated to exploring topics raised in DECLARATION OF INTERDEPENDENCE: Poems for an Election Year by me (Janet Wong). In this book, you'll find topics such as liberty, the election, voting rights of kids, how to choose a president, the electoral vote, and more. Thanks for stopping by, and please jump in with your comments. Whether you're 9 years old or 90, we want to know what you're thinking!
12 Comments on BOOK GIVEAWAY--Declaration of Interdependence: Poems for an Election Year by Janet Wong, last added: 10/11/2012
I won this book a while ago, Elaine, so don't put me into the drawing. But just wanted to tell others who read this that it's such a great book. I've shared it with many classrooms as something to help with election conversations.
I would love this book to share with my 6th graders! I have to say I have been a silent reader of yours for a few years now and I greatly appreciate your knowledge of poetry and sharing of great books!
I know Janet's book must be super. Love the poem you shared. Don't enter me in the giveaway, because teachers should really win. But thanks for sharing this!
Thanks, everyone, for your comments! So happy to hear that you've had success with this book in classrooms, Linda. And Mary Jane: I hope that it inspires your students to write stellar VFW essays! The whole point of this book was to create discussion. Many of the poems are lighthearted and whimsical because I just wanted to suggest a jumping-off point (for talking about what red and blue states mean, or the electoral versus the popular vote, etc.). A lot of kids hear NOTHING about the election at home, so it's really important that it's at least mentioned in school!
Mr. Russell's Class said, on 10/8/2012 10:28:00 AM
Followed a link on Kenn Nesbitt's twitter to here, as we read a lot of Kenn's poetry in our class - love the sample and lots of folks have good things to say about it too! Although we live in Ireland, we're learning all about how the President is elected, we'll be having our own class election, and following the real thing very closely too. Keep up the good work!
Hooray for Mr. Russell's class! I think it's SO neat that you're in Ireland and yet you're learning about the American presidential election. It's extra neat that you're holding a class election of your own. What a great reminder of how we're all connected and we enrich our lives by keeping up with each other's news!
Elaine, Thank you for this great opportunity to win another wonderful book by Janet. I think that motivating students’ discussion with poems about topics related to the elections is just a wonderful idea. I truly admire Janet’s way of thinking and writing—it’s creative and inspiring and yet simple and understandable to her readers regardless of age.
It would be great to have this unique book on the shelf in my library with elections just around the corner. I’ll keep my fingers crossed. :) Vida
I wrote the first draft of the following animal mask poem last month. I kept fiddling with it over the weeks. I felt it needed a couple more lines—but hit a wall. Then, when I was in bed the other night, two lines just popped into my head.
Here is my most recent draft of that poem--which is told in the voice of migrating geese:
THE SOUND OF FALL
By Elaine Magliaro
So long…farewell. We’re on our way.
We must depart. We can’t delay Our journey to a warmer clime. Mother Nature warned: “It’s time!” We’re heading south before the snow… And winter winds begin to blow. We leave you with our parting call— Honk! Honk! Honk! THAT’S the sound of fall.
P.S. Check out Laura’s terrific collection of poems about books and reading, BookSpeak! It would be an excellent book to share with elementary students.
5 Comments on THE SOUND OF FALL: An Original Animal Mask Poem, last added: 10/25/2012
Since we have the cold & snow in Colorado, I always wonder why our copious numbers of geese don't leave, only some do. I guess I should ask a ranger or wildlife biologist. Nice to hear this, Elaine. I always like your mask poems.
I am rereading (listening this time) to Wallace Stegner's CROSSING TO SAFETY. He has a beautiful passage describing the sound and sight of geese in the fall. We, too, have lots of year round geese, but this is still one of my favorite fall sounds!
Yesterday, I watched my granddaughter Julia as she looked out the side door at two gray squirrels scampering along the old rock wall that serves as the boundary line between our “new” property and the property of our next door neighbors. It’s fun for me to look at a familiar scene like squirrels skittering around through the eyes of little Julia who gets so excited about such things. I enjoy listening to her excited noises when she gets wrapped up in the wonder of things that are new to her young eyes.
Today, I’m sharing an animal mask poem. In it, I tried to capture the voice of a squirrel busy scavenging for food in autumn.
BUSYBODY
By Elaine Magliaro
I’m a hurrier scurrier scamperer scavenger searching for acorns and maple tree seeds stashing them now for my wintertime needs.
It’s autumn…
I’m busy. I’ve much work to do. So sorry I can’t stop To visit with you.
Must hurry,
Must scurry… Can’t chatter today. I’m busy…too busy Must be on my way.
********************
Here are some pictures of Julia enjoying her first tastes of her Grampy’s yummy homemade lasagna:
Here are two pictures that I took of her when we vacationed in Maine in late August:
Here is a picture that I took of Julia at her first birthday party in August:
Adorable! What shockingly beautiful eyes she has. I love your squirrel poem too. There is just something about squirrels I never get tired of watching, even when they are stealing from my birdfeeders. Hooray for the delight of the young, that focuses our attention on such things in a new way.
You must realize that Julia takes precedence even over your fine poem, Elaine! She is so beautiful! Granddaughters are very special! But, I do love what you do with those mask poems, just capture the animals so well. I like the way that first verse sounds a lot.
Oh, what gorgeous photographs,Elaine. And so sweet to see how she has grown in the spaces between the photographs. My older son is 14 today and his 1st birthday seems such a distant memory...
I love your poem too. Squirrels and autumn are just perfect together.
Last September, I wrote a post titled Cleaning House and Discovering Old Poems. Well, I’ve been cleaning house again—that’s why I’ve taken a brief break from blogging. This time, I am truly a woman on a mission. I’ve been throwing away TONS of stuff—except for old poems. My library/office in my basement had become so cluttered and disorganized that it was difficult to find things. (That wasn’t the only room in the house that needed attention!) It feels so good to be getting rid of things that I don’t need or no longer use…to be organized…to have room once more in my cupboards and drawers and closets…to be able to locate things easily.
While going through all my stuff, I found some old photographs and newspaper clippings. Memories came flooding back—memories of family…friends…times past…places we have traveled to. I also began to think about all the happy memories the house where I live holds for me. I admit that I have a sentimental attachment to my home of thirty-six years.
There is another house that holds a special place in my heart. It’s the home of my maternal grandparents where I spent many of my of my happiest childhood days. This Friday, I’m taking a stroll down memory lane with the following poem about my grandparents’ house.
A Home for the Seasons
My grandparents’ house seems to hug their shady street.
A white duplex, its twin front doors
stand side by side
just three steps up from the sidewalk.
4 Comments on A Home for the Seasons: An Original Memoir Poem, last added: 7/7/2012
What a great memory. I could almost smell the warm tomatoes. When I was a child, my mother let us pick and eat anything we wanted fresh from the garden, any time of the day...new carrots, radishes, cucumbers, warm tomatoes...all with that fresh dirt and sweet, sweet new smell! Thanks for taking me back there.
Thanks to all for your comments about memories of my childhood. Spending time at the home of my maternal grandparents was truly an enriching experience for me. The memories of those days in my past are still vivid for me today. They have provided me with fodder for writing poetry.
One of my favorite sounds is that of crickets chirping on summer nights. I haven’t had the opportunity to listen to them lately because it has been so hot around here lately that we’ve had to run the air conditioner in our bedroom.
Here’s an acrostic poem I wrote some years ago about crickets strumming on summer evenings:
Chirping in the dark, their song
Resonates
In the still air. A
Chorus of summer night strummers in concert with
Katydids
Entertaining warm evenings with
Their
4 Comments on CRICKETS: An Original Acrostic, last added: 7/20/2012
Every now and then, I like to write poems about a particular subject in a number of different ways. I have arranged the following three mole poems in the order in which I wrote them. The first poem is a “things to do” list poem; the second and third are mask poems.
THINGS TO DO IF YOU ARE A MOLE
Make your home
in the damp darkness
underground
unknowing of snow
and stars
and summer breezes.
Live among roots
and rocks
and sleeping cicadas.
Excavate tunnels
in the moist brown earth.
Listen for the soft music
of seeds sprouting,
worms wiggling,
rain pattering on your grassy roof.
Spend your days in a world
of unending night.
MOLE ANSWERS AN INTERVIEW QUESTION
I live in the earth.
I burrow through soil.
A claw-footed creature,
In darkness I toil.
I excavate tunnels.
I really DIG dirt!
I’m a fine engineer.
I do hate to be curt…
But I’m here on the job…
I can’t stop now to chat.
I’m a hole-digging mole.
I’ll just leave it at that!
MOLE
Psst! Psst! HEY! I’m right down here.
I’m a busy little engineer
Building tunnels underground.
You rarely hear ME make a sound.
3 Comments on MOLE POEMS: Variations on a Theme, last added: 7/28/2012
These are all so good, Elaine, rhymic & with the right amount of info. I love that "rain pattering on your grassy roof". Thanks for more of your content poems!
Backyard Mermaids is a memoir poem. It relates a memory of one of the summer experiences I had with two of my first cousins at the home of my maternal grandparents. My cousins lived on one side of my grandparents’ house. We spent lots of vacation days together—running through the lawn sprinkler, picking vegetables in my grandfather’s garden, playing dress-up in the basement, meeting in our clubhouse under my grandparents’ front porch.
I am so glad to read of your 'clubhouse' because I rarely find anyone who did 'clubs' when they were young. We did it endlessly, & I think most of its allure was the planning of the rules. Thanks for this memory of playing in the yard, Elaine. I love "bare feet squishing through wet grass". I can feel it now, know just what you mean.
Elaine, I'm a dunce and can't figure out how to line for the Poetry Friday Round Up this week, so I thought I'd just drop by and invite you to stop by my blog and read about the new Poetry Friday Anthology and Rebecca Kai Dotlich has a poem to share, Mrs. Betty. You'll be welcome at www.poetryforkidsjoy.blogspot.com
I apologize for being absent from Wild Rose Readerfor so long. It has been an especially busy and hectic summer for me. Just this past month, I’ve attended two family weddings, celebrated my granddaughter Julia's first birthday, vacationed in Maine, and bought a house! My husband and I hadn’t planned on moving because we love the house we are living in at the present time--and we love our neighborhood. I have, however, been spending a lot of time away from home living at my daughter’s and providing daycare for my granddaughter. That has left me little time to read, write, blog, spend with my husband, or visit with friends and other family. My husband, daughter, son-in-law, and I decided a few months ago that it would best for all of us if we could find a home where we could all live together. I didn’t think we’d find the perfect place so soon...but we did. It was the first property that we looked at.
Here are some pictures that I took yesterday of the grounds around the house:
My daughter, son-in-law, and Julia will live in the main house—a Georgian farmhouse built around 1790--with an addition that was built circa 1850. My husband and I will live in the in-law suite--the carriage house that was converted into an apartment in 1999.
The original owner of the house was a woodworker and an apple farmer. In fact, he had an apple orchard on our property. The thought of an apple orchard brought to mind a memoir poem that I wrote about my maternal grandparents and the apples that grew in their yard.
APPLES
We tasted the green apples of summer,
watched the season pass through Dzidzi’s garden,
shared its bounty.
Now we help harvest the autumn apples.
Dzidzi places two large baskets beneath the tree.
He stands on a ladder and reaches for the highest apples.
Thanks! We have three-and-a-half acres. That means lots of upkeep. We have to get a ride-on mower.
The house is in Massachusetts--about a twenty-five-minute drive from the house where we're living now. My husband and I haven't moved in yet. We haven't put our house on the market yet because we want to do a few things to our in-law apartment, which had been very well cared for and is in excellent condition. We plan to tear out the wall-to-wall carpeting and put in some built-in bookcases. I don't know where I'm going to put all my children's books! I'll certainly miss the library that I built in my basement several years ago.
Although I'm sad about leaving the house where I have lived for thirty-six years...and my library--I know this is the best thing for all of us. I can't wait to see how beautiful "the farm" is in autumn.
P.S. My daughter's Yellow Lab Jack has been having a grand time swimming in the pool. He spends half the day there!
Oh, this poem is glorious. I love the quiet images, the separation of apples...both perfect in their own way. We, too, love apples here - and we usually make lots of cider each autumn.
Congrats on your great summer and new home. How beautiful and wonderful that you will all be near each other - and what a beautiful place!
The poem is as beautiful as the photos! I esepcially like the last part, describing the dishes that will be created - probably because I make all those, too!
I especially like the ending of your lovely poem, too! I'm sure it will be hard leaving your beautiful old home, but congrats on the beautiful new home.
The new home sounds gorgeous -- the grounds certainly are. How wonderful for Julia to have her grandparents so near by all the time growing up! Someday she'll write poems about you, just like your beautiful poems about Babci and Dzidzi.
It's so nice to hear from you & how your life is going, Elaine. I hear that you will be sad to leave your wonderful home, but where you are going sounds & looks gorgeous too, & to be right there with family, especially Julia, is nice. I will be moving sometime to be nearer my daughter & the granddaughters. I know it will be easier on us all & such fun. Best wishes to you all in your transition. I love your poem about your grandparents, and love apples. You've captured so many of the motions that are important, including the cooking of those wonderful fruits. I can just see a painting of the scene. Thanks.
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Thanks much for this, Elaine. Looks terrific, & I'll pass it along to colleagues.
Looks like this would really inspire kids to write, which is a great, great thing in my book.