All posts by Laurie Graves

I write about nature, food, the environment, home, family, community, and people.
Animals - especially dogs

Pure Magic: A New Puppy in the Neighborhood

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As the title of this post indicates, there is a new puppy in the neighborhood, and yesterday, Clif and I met him.  His name is Magic, and what a sweet bundle of black fluff and puppy smell.

The minute I saw him, I fell in love. We brought Magic a toy, as we would any new baby, and he immediately started chewing on it with a vengeance. When Magic was done with the toy, he allowed me to cuddle him, and already he has the open, affectionate nature so common to black Labs.

I took some pictures of this darling puppy, but none of them came out very well. Here is the best of the bunch.

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You can bet I’ll be taking more pictures of this little guy.

Welcome, welcome, little Magic!

 

Food for Thought, Nature

Octember

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In Maine, it seems as though the climate has changed significantly.  Last month, we had what I called Saugust, which was so mild and hot that it seemed to be an extension of summer. A far cry from the crisp Septembers we had as little as ten years ago.

Saugust has been followed by what I have dubbed Octember, a month that has been so warm that records have been broken. Two days ago, the thermometer on the back of the house read 73 degrees in the shade, which meant it was nearly 80 in the sun. Clif and I are still having drinks on the patio in late afternoon. We watch the birds—nuthatches, chickadees, cardinals, woodpeckers, tufted titmice. We listen to the crickets, singing their song of fall. Clif and I concur—it is great to be on the patio so late in the season. But it is also strange, and it is past time for everyone to be taking climate change seriously.

We keep saying to each other, surely this is the last day we’ll be having drinks on the patio. And soon it will be. By the end of October, we’ll have to bring in the patio furniture. Traditionally, snow could come anytime in November. But this year, who knows?

Despite the warm weather, the leaves continue to fall, coming down in a rain of gold, carpeting the yard and the road.

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Books

Ba ba baba, baba ba baba

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After an intense week of getting my YA fantasy novel, Maya and the Book of Everything, ready for its proof copy, this song by The Ramones  captures the spirit of how I feel.

But God willing and the creek don’t rise, we’ll be sending Maya out next week for the proof copy.

In the meantime, I wanna be sedated. 😉

 

Food for Thought, Nature

Muted Beauty

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The glory of autumn is starting to fade, as it does every year. Austere November is right around the corner, and the glorious maple trees have begun to shed their leaves in preparation. While I am a little sorry to see the passing of those bright red, yellow, and orange leaves, I also love the muted beauty of November—the browns and russets. After all the hectic color of October, I find November’s tones soothing.

This picture of a once-green fern illustrates my point. It has faded to white and has brown outlines on the edges. The fern is a good reminder that beauty comes in many shapes and colors, from the first blush of spring to the deep green of summer to the mature beauty of autumn and finally to the sparkling cold of winter.

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Would I be pushing the point too much to apply this principle to people? No, I don’t think I would be pushing it too much, and so I will.

Animals - especially dogs, Nature

Walking with Liam

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When our dog, Liam, was young, Clif and I would take him for several walks during the day, and all told we would cover about seven miles. Even then, that wasn’t really enough exercise for our lively Sheltie. Fortunately, we have a half-acre yard fenced in, and he could run like crazy around the perimeter, making a track that a friend dubbed “the Liam 500.” Oh, Liam was an energetic dog. And he stayed energetic for many, many years, wowing friends with his wild racing in the backyard.

Blindness, however, has slowed down this once active dog who loved  to be outside from dawn to dusk. Nowadays, Liam only wants to stay out long enough to do his business. As for racing around the backyard—those days are over, and the Liam 500 is no more, completely filled with grass.

We still take Liam for walks several times a day, but we are lucky if we go for a mile, total. Nonetheless, the walks are enjoyable.  Liam sniffs, I look, and even on a short stretch there is always something to see on our country road.

Now that it is fall, the air has a nutty smell as the leaves and the acorns fall. Crickets jump by the side of the road, and chipmunks scurry to fill their pantries. Even on a gray day, the woods are bright with yellow ferns, and in mid-October in central Maine, the leaves are a blaze of orange and red.

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On our walks, I spot those little stars of autumn twinkling in the tall grass.

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In the woods, I notice a fallen log with lichen.

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I admire the variegated mat of leaves on the side of the road.

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Then it’s back to our very own yard.

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These short walks are a good reminder that no matter how close you are to home, there is something to see, something to notice.

Books, Nature

Progress Report: Autumn and Maya and the Book of Everything

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As we Mainers might put it, this fall has been wicked weird. Last Friday, the town’s thermometer read 80 degrees, and in the evening Clif and I had drinks and supper on the patio. (We thought those days were long gone.) In short, this fall has been warm, and as with anything, there are pluses and minuses. On the plus side…we have had to use very little heat, and in a state like Maine, where it is cold for at least eight months of the year, this is a real blessing. The cost of heating is a real issue for many Mainers. On the other hand, this unnaturally warm weather is yet another reminder of climate change, and while northern New England might enjoy the milder weather, it’s not so great for the rest of the world.

However, this October Monday is seasonably cool and very windy. A good day for hanging fleeces on the line. The sky is bright blue, and the trees are ablaze with color. Maine is glorious in October, and if there is a finer place to be, then I don’t know where it is.

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The gardens have their own beauty in autumn. The flowers are gone, and I miss them. However, the foliage has turned red and yellow and the seed pods add visual interest. This year, as Jason from the blog Garden in a City has suggested, I’m not going to cut back the perennials until spring. I’ve never done this before, and I have decided to give it a try. Not only will the uncut garden provide a place for beneficial insects to winter over, but it will also decrease the amount of work I must do this fall.

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This, of course, brings me to my upcoming YA novel, Maya and the Book of Everything. I have been working like a crazy person getting the manuscript ready for the November publication. Clif and I have learned a lot with this first book, and for the second book in the series, Library Lost, we will have a much different time line.

But the major editing is done for Maya and the Book of Everything, and yesterday, a rainy fall day, I felt like a wet noodle. I spent most of the day on the couch, where I napped and read the current issue of The New Yorker. (I believe George Bernard Shaw called it a boiled sweet kind of day, where all you feel like doing is sitting in a corner and sucking on boiled sweets. ) I have found that an occasional day of rest is a good thing, necessary even, to recharge the batteries.

Today, I do indeed feel refreshed, ready to tackle the next set of chores for Maya.

Onward and upward.

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