chrysanthemum – By the Sea

apple pickers

The breezes taste
Of apple peel.
The air is full
Of smells to feel –

Ripe fruit, old footballs,
Drying grass,
New books and blackboards
Chalk in class.

The bee, his hive
Well-honey, hums
While Mother cuts
Chrysanthemums.

Like plates washed clean
With suds, the days
Are polished with
A morning haze.

~ John Updike
(September)

~ autumn equinox ~

We say one thing and do another. We feel one way; then our hearts open in another direction. We see one thing but don’t understand that blinders hinder our vision. We plod along a well-loved path and then see a road, an alleyway, a river that tempts us….
~ Lisa See
(Snow Flower & The Secret Fan)

Colorful Homes in Miss Florence’s Gardens

A few more fairy tale birdhouses at the Florence Griswold Museum…

#49. “Fun Galore on the Top Floor” by Barbara Stevens & Barbara O’Connell, based on Eloise at the Plaza. I was not familiar with this story so Janet filled me in. Later, on Netflix streaming, I found and watched Eloise’s Rawther Unusual Halloween…