Fostering a new renaissance through creativity, authenticity, spirituality, and art
Polly Castor 
One of the things that sold us on buying our house here in Connecticut was this local orchard we visited while we were house hunting. I was very pregnant with our daughter who is now off as a freshman in college, and what we saw that we liked so much at this orchard was in … Read more
Compassion Not Criticism When you criticize you fail to comprehend that everyone is dealing with more than anyone can know Each is doing his best coping given their uniquely complex aggregate circumstance attempting to manage the petty paradoxes and inevitable dichotomies, and the aggressive onslaughts of mental miasma bamboozled each we are in our own … Read more
I met my husband 21 years ago today. Long before that, this date was important in my life because my dad was born 84 years ago today. Today is also my college friend Hallie’s birthday. She was the first Christian Scientist I ever met, and would later become my matron of honor. In an interesting … Read more
This is one of our favorite soups and I’ve made it every fall for nearly 20 years. It is from Mollie Katzen’s wonderful book Still Life With Menu (page 76 – or in my copy, just turn to the most stained page.) I highly recommend it. It wouldn’t be fall here without it. This … Read more
It was a lovely, blustery day with beautiful clouds. This morning found me in this pristine meadow watching the unfurling drama of clouds in fully animated air. Leaf confetti showered. We breathed deep the fresh vistas, primed for pastel painting. My daughter ran barefoot – arms out wide – through the grass. We had inadvertently … Read more
This page represents September 24, 2009 to October 5, 2009 See close-up entries below. Enjoy!
Are you ever wanting a good movie without sex, violence or swearing? This is a film the whole family can enjoy. It is about Beatrix Potter, and her journey to become the best selling children’s book author of all time. (You know, the creator of Peter Rabbit, Benjamin Bunny, Jemima Puddle-duck and Jeremy Fisher…) Her … Read more
I’ve been thinking in paint this weekend. Here are my newest two… The one below is named Dolphin Dreams. Enjoy!
I didn’t mention it yesterday, but 40 of Van Gogh’s 150 paintings were self-portraits. I haven’t done one in quite a while, so I gave it a go this morning. My effort took an abstract bent as you can see. It feels like me more than looks like me.
Vincent van Gogh only sold one painting in his lifetime. No one painted like him; he was generally misunderstood. His paintings were used as scrap; Starry Starry Night was tacked up on a kitchen ceiling to stop a leak! He saw paintings wherever he went, but only started to paint at the age of 27, … Read more
Driving home from church last night, my husband and I expressed gratitude for our individual and mutual commitment to church. We go every Sunday and Wednesday, twice a week like clockwork. That’s 112 services a year, of which on average we miss only two or three by being too remote to go. We have found … Read more
This morning I delivered my twelve year old homeschooled daughter to a special music composition class at Caramoor (see here). For three Wednesdays in a row, she’ll be treated to a first class concert, followed by several hours of instruction in musical composition. Today my daughter heard Leva Jokubaviciute (see here) play Schubert on the … Read more
This has been a topic of amusement for me on my walks as I am fascinated by refraction and reflection, as well as abstract juxtaposition of color. It never occurred to me to pull them together as a post until I watched a recent photography class get “windows” as an assignment. There are a lot … Read more
Yearning I’m too deep for friendship too raw and ready open and creative and capable difficult to understand while revealing myself at face value as accessible as salt or sugar. I’m too intense, intimidating; I feel too much uninhibited and unafraid, undemanding always screeching on the reins so not to overwhelm incessantly giving and doggedly … Read more
I had read and enjoyed the book The Secret Life of Bees. Since I was dubious how to get the incredible richness of the written language as well as the complexity of the bee metaphor into the movie, I did not go and see the film in the theater. After several friends and blog readers … Read more
This is one of our favorite recipes. (Thank you Mollie Katzen!) It has the potential to revolutionize your meals. Dare I say they are sensuous? They require very little work; you just need to be home for several hours anyway, doing other things. These slow roasted tomatoes make anything better. We use them mostly … Read more
