nature | Ann Leary, author of The Good House

Happy Bloomsday

June 16, 2011 by Ann Leary 26 Comments

Denis was in the city last night so not only was I not a witness to the bellowing. offerings of praise to the Lord, and tears of joy, but I was also completely unaware that the Bruins won the Stanley Cup last night until I read it on Twitter. Very exciting. Go Bruins, etc. I’m not a huge sports fan, but I love Boston dearly.

I was here in Connecticut trying to take photos of the full moon, which is very hard, due to moon illusion, which is a phenomenon that never ceases to fascinate me. I took the above photo after the giant moon was just peeking above the trees on the horizon. Of course, it looked small in the photo, due to moon illusion.

Filed Under: Dogs, Cats, Horses, Hags, Bats, etc, Husband, Literary stuff, Very Important Stuff Tagged With: dogs, Husband, nature, poems

Lillinonah in Winter

January 2, 2011 by Ann Leary 16 Comments

My blog was disabled for a short time today, which worked out fine, because I had my wonderful in-laws visiting. If I did anything right in this life it was marrying into that family. My mother-in-law, Nora Leary, is the youngest 80-something on earth. So fun, so warm and so easy-going. Nora grew up on a farm in Ireland with no running water, no electricity, tons of siblings, and according to her, the happiest childhood anybody could ever imagine. She and Denis’s father worked very hard, first in London, then here in the US, to put their four kids through school and they are all wonderfully successful and now, so are her grandchildren. Who all adore her. This year Grandma Nora got a Macbook for Christmas. She’s on Facebook and my nieces and I are scheming about setting up a fan page for her. It was a great, great visit.

Filed Under: Literary stuff Tagged With: beauty, family, nature

Didn’t They Just…

September 17, 2009 by admin 15 Comments

Here is a stunning photo by Moses Pendleton called “Insex.” The man loves a pun, what can I tell you? Beautiful photo.

Photo by Moses Pendleton

And here’s a poem to go with it. Though it’s not yet October, it reminds me of Moses because he’s such an avid gardener and therefore, a little preoccupied by the garden’s never ending and yet, constantly ending, cycles. I’m feeling the passage of time so intensely, now, with the kids back in school. Didn’t we just have babies? Didn’t they just start school? I love this poem so much:

Filed Under: Literary stuff Tagged With: country life, nature, poetry

Sea and Sky

August 5, 2009 by admin 40 Comments

I blogged last summer about how much I love our rental home in Nantucket. You can read about it here, here, here, and here.

Well, we’re back and I can’t tell you how restorative it is to fall asleep to the gentle washing of the waves on the sand and awaken to foghorns and the cry of gulls. Today the water in the harbor is as still as glass. The sea and the sky are the exact same shade of pearly grey this morning and looking out my window is like looking out into a beautifully eerie world where colorful sailboats float in the air.

Filed Under: Husband, Literary stuff, Stuff I Did, Very Important Stuff Tagged With: beauty, family, nature, poetry

Clever Bitches and Cheeky Baa-studs

August 3, 2009 by admin 12 Comments

In my book, An Innocent, A Broad, I wrote about a our experience having our first baby, in London, by accident. In one of the chapters, I discussed the fact that in 1990, there were only 4 channels available to most British viewers: BBC1, BBC2, ITV and Channel 4. It didn’t matter to me that there were not hundreds of satellite channels available then because a) I was nursing an infant every two hours and would have watched programs about paint drying if that’s all they had and b) British television is, and always has been, far superior to what America has to offer, in my opinion. Here’s a little excerpt from my book in which I discuss some of my favorite shows from that long hot summer.

Filed Under: Dogs, Cats, Horses, Literary stuff Tagged With: babies, dogs, nature, sheep

A Lake, A Signing, Muddy Feet, a Poem

August 1, 2009 by admin 10 Comments

Last night, on the way to the book signing, I drove past beautiful Lake Waramaug. I still have not purchased a new camera, but took some more photos with my iphone. I’m really liking the iphone pictures.

Sometimes the pictures end up looking a little warped – for example, in the photo above, the land and lake are, obviously, flat.

The event was a lot of fun. I saw Marshall Miles and Jill Goodman, the Producers/General Managers of WHDD-FM/Robin Hood Radio, the NPR station located in Sharon, CT, where I used to have my show IN HOUSE. Seeing Marshall and Jill reminded me how much fun it was to have the show, and we talked about the possibility of starting it up again if and when I ever finish this book.

Filed Under: IN HOUSE radio, Just Nothing (really, nothing), Literary stuff, Shameless Self-Promotion, Stuff I Did, Very Important Stuff Tagged With: books, nature, poetry

Bridge of Sighs

July 25, 2009 by admin 24 Comments

One of the reasons I haven’t blogged in a few days is because I’m still having problems with my camera. The camera that I loved so much, but dropped in a puddle. So today, I decided to take a few photos with my iphone camera. I am always pleasantly surprised at the quality of the iphone photos. The color is often quite nice. If only it had a zoom. But here are a few shots of what I call my “Bridge of Sighs.” It’s the bridge I drive across on my way home from New York City. When I reach the far side of the bridge I feel like I’m home. Then I sigh.

Filed Under: Literary stuff Tagged With: nature, spooky

High Times

July 6, 2009 by admin 22 Comments

Today, I finally got to visit the new High Line park, here in Manhattan.

The High Line is a park/walkway built on the old elevated freight train lines that used to run along the west side of the city. We live downtown, so I’ve been looking up at the old elevated tracks and watching trees and plants seemingly sprout overnight. From below, it looks like this:

From above, it now looks like this:

Yes, that’s the Empire State Building in the background.
It’s a great way to see the city and notice architecture that you haven’t noticed before:

Filed Under: Very Important Stuff Tagged With: city life, nature, New York City

Gardening, Bobcats, Ice Age 3

July 5, 2009 by admin 49 Comments

Last month I blogged about my fickle attitude toward gardening. But I did plant a few things. Remember these Morning Glories I stuck in the ground?
IMG_4035.JPG.jpeg

Well, now they look like this:

I mentioned in my last post that the deer like to feast on our hostas every summer, but they have left them alone so far this year. Why? Bobcat urine! We used to buy the coyote urine that they sell in gardening stores, but I always thought this was silly, because we have dogs who urinate on all the plants and that never deterred the deer. The deer thought it was silly too, and merrily gobbled up all our blossoms.

Filed Under: Dogs, Cats, Horses, Husband, Just Nothing (really, nothing), Stuff I Did, Very Important Stuff Tagged With: nature

Squirmers, Elvers, Cleaners, Caressers

June 21, 2009 by admin 35 Comments

Photo by Moses Pendleton

It’s been wet here in New England. My friend Moses sent me this beautiful wet, green photo, and, to accompany it, I have chosen a poem. Sorry poetry haters, he’s my favorite, Roethke, and, well, the photo was crying out for it.

The Minimal
by Theodore Roethke

I study the lives on a leaf: the little
Sleepers, numb nudgers in cold dimensions,
Beetles in caves, newts, stone-deaf fishes,
Lice tethered to long limp subterranean weeds,
Squirmers in bogs,
And bacterial creepers
Wriggling through wounds
Like elvers in ponds,
Their wan mouths kissing the warm sutures,
Cleaning and caressing,
Creeping and healing.

Thanks Moses.

Filed Under: Literary stuff Tagged With: beauty, nature, poetry

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