Fostering a new renaissance through creativity, authenticity, spirituality, and art
Polly Castor 
Reading Walden I remember when my sister had to read Walden by Thoreau; it was intolerable, excruciating, deafeningly exasperating like an incessant blaring alarm that can’t seem to be shut off. It was like walking barefoot over a path of rough rusty nails or being sprayed by a feisty skunk for no reason, the stench … Read more
I love peonies. My mother grew them and the first photograph below is one growing in our yard that used to be hers. I’m glad to have it. One of my fondest memories is yearly carrying her peonies to school – covered in ants and heavenly aroma – as a gifts to my teachers. We … Read more
There are those in my local homeschooling network here that call me “the book maven.” I earned the title scouting out the best homeschooling books at the cheapest prices, frequenting library book sales and used curriculum sales as well as homeschooling conference trade shows. We now have over 10,000 books in our small house, mostly … Read more
We are fortunate to be part of a shared harvest at a local educational farm and weekly get a box of vegetables and fruit. This week our box included kale, which I have not found a way to care for yet as a sautéed lump on my plate(!), and tatsoi, which is also known … Read more
I wanted to like this film. After all, it had Colin Firth, English aristocratic country homes, and a tango scene; all that made it seem rather compelling. But knowing it was based on a Noel Coward play, I should have had my guard up more about the story-line. I found the whole film a disappointment … Read more
I Am Orange I am orange bright, bold and in your face caution: you can see me from far off… I’m unreserved and free blasting forward, assertive (but safe from being shot at) I make other colors look better. I’m slurpy as a tangerine while dry as a desert sunset blazing; clear, humble, lyrically compassionate … Read more
This is the painting I started in my pastel class. It is the largest pastel I’ve ever done. It has been sitting on my mantel for over a month awaiting completion! I had a great time finishing it. This was done from a photo of mine taken on the Schoodic Peninsula in Acadia National Park, … Read more
The word rhododendron is my favorite choice for stumping someone at hangman on the back of a diner place mat. This practice dates back to childhood when this word would routinely win me the game Probe. We never had rhododendrons then or now, but my aunt in Michigan used to have an awesome one out … Read more
I have really enjoyed this book by Dawn De Vries Sokol and even give it five stars. I bought it in the fall and have savored it slowly and incrementally at bedtime, studying each page thoroughly and carefully before going on to the next. I disciplined myself not to flip forward, and didn’t allow myself … Read more
Irises are fascinating. Ninety-nine percent of these photographs were taken in our yard. My husband is a very good gardener and has received most of our irises as gifts. There are so many pictures of them because I find them endlessly interesting. Enjoy!
This page represents May 27, 2009 through June 7, 2009. I am most gratified that several blog readers have started their own Box-A-Day Art Journal! I know well what enormous blessings are in store for you doing this! See below for some close up photos from this page. Enjoy!
I haven’t been out to the movies in eons so this probably added to my enjoyment of this recently released romantic comedy: My Life In Ruins. We were drawn to see it because it has the same lead as My Big Fat Greek Wedding – Nia Vardalos – who is refreshingly not-Hollywood, and also because … Read more
Let it Be like Atlas carrying the world taking too much responsibility I need a vacation from introspection pressure huge expectation and crippling hope that shrivels and snivels trying to make it all right with too much effort knowing what it could be with too much intensity and too much tenacity why do only … Read more
I love poppies. The audaciously flagrant color, the bristly buds, the stark markings, and the ten armed starfish shaped velour crown on the pregnant seed pod, all strike me as potent, voluptuous and thrilling. Enjoy this year’s photos of them taken just before an untimely rain curtailed prematurely the other stages of their glory…
I read this classic book by Jean Henri-Fabre (France 1823 – 1915) to my homeschooled 6th grader as supplementary science material this year. She gives the book four stars in general, and five stars in the category of “school books.” She would often pick it out of the stack over other ongoing things. Originally published … Read more
On Monday, I was in Bedford, NY taking my 12 year old daughter to a poetry class given by a hip slam poet. The class was near a tiny chapel of a church dating from 1851 and a mill waterfall, both of which you can see below. The weather was pristine, magnificent, and sublimely … Read more
I really enjoyed painting this one in the sun on my front porch, while sitting in one of our white Adirondack chairs and smelling the newly mown grass. Below are photos of the same painting. Which orientation do you like best?