November 11

November 11, 2026 annbh356Leave a comment

My experience tending cemeteries has involved cultivated flowers planted in the ground at the base of the headstones or in heavy pots on iron stands for the caretaker’s ease of mowing. So for years I envisioned a gardener’s precision as the poet’s first stanza describes flowers growing “between the crosses, row on row…”. The exacting symmetry of Arlington Cemetery or Colleville-sur-Mer in Normandy, France.

It was decades after reading John McCrae’s war poem in Mrs. Miggawa’s third grade class, that I learned the poppies in those Flanders fields sprang naturally from dormant seeds buried deep in war torn earth. Growth and life revealed even as incessant exploding bombs continued. Land torn by horse and caisson and trodden upon by thousands of war weary footsteps as soldiers scrambled “over the top” from trench to blood soaked No-Man’s Land.

In Flanders Fields is one soldier’s grief expressed in words after burying his friend following the Battle of Ypres in Belgium. A life lost in the Great War, that war to end all wars. A war that ended on the 11th hour, of the 11the day, of the 11th month – Armistice Day.

But while fighting ceased on November 11, 1919, peace was and remains elusive. From the Great War to World War II, to the Korean Conflict, to Vietnam, to Afghanistan, Iraq, Gaza, and Iran, it continues. On this Veteran’s Day, whether your red poppy is a paper boutonnière or a cascade of thousands of knit and crocheted yarn blossoms draped from an English church steeple, let us remember the significant loss of life and limb and work for peace.

In Flanders Fields
 
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
    That mark our place; and in the sky
    The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
    Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
        In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
    The torch; be yours to hold it high.
    If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
        In Flanders fields.

Bibliographic note: John McCrae, poet. First published in the London-based magazine Punch on December 8, 1915.

Photo credit: pexel – Freek Wolsink

Pumpkins in the Field

October 31, 2026November 2, 2026 annbh356Leave a comment

As I wait for the traffic light to change on the corner of Broadway and 48^th Street NE, I look beyond the negative rhetoric of the campaign signs to the bright orange ribbed squash scattered on the hillside. I try to calculate the number of pumpkin pies still awaiting harvest and think of Carl Sandburg. Then the light changes. I turn left and, once home, I pull a can of Libby’s, Libby’s Libby’s on the label, label, label from the round corner lazy Susan.

bright orange pumpkins in the field with green forest in the background and gray cloudy sky

Theme in Yellow

I spot the hills
With yellow balls in autumn.
I light the prairie cornfields
Orange and tawny gold clusters
And I am called pumpkins.
On the last of October
When dusk is fallen
Children join hands
And circle round me
Singing ghost songs
And love to the harvest moon;
I am a jack-o’-lantern
With terrible teeth
And children know
I am fooling.

Credits:

Bibliographic: © Carl Sandburg, Theme in Yellow, from Chicago Poems. New York: Henry Colt and Company, 1916.

Photo: Pexels, lure_of_adventure

Other items of interest

Ava places 3rd!

October 25, 2026October 26, 2026 annbh3562 Comments

For 50 years, Major League Baseball (MLB) has sponsored Pitch, Hit & Run. While I had heard about this event, Richard and I never paid attention to its details as the children in our lives were not playing ball. However, that changed this fall when we learned that our great-great-niece was to compete in Milwaukee. Ava was one of forty finalists from around North America who made it to American Family Field after qualifying locally and then regionally in the 9–10-year-old softball division. This year’s Pitch, Hit & Run competitors were announced on the World Series field in pre-game festivities and attended the Brewer’s winning game 2.

While Fox programming was scheduled to broadcast both Game 2 of the World Series and the pre-game festivities, a college football game ran so long that we missed seeing Ava walk unto the MLB big-league field. We did view the Sunday morning competition for softball and baseball players ages 7 to 14 and even glimpsed our niece on screen several times.

The juvenile athletes were tested on the accuracy of their pitching, the distance they could hit a ball off a tee, and how quickly they could run. Ava’s scores placed her third in the 9–10-year-old softball division.

Congrats, Ava!

Graphic credit: © MLB Pitch, Hit & Run Instagram post 2026

New House

Curbcuts coming!

October 13, 2026 annbh356Leave a comment

graphic image of an ADA accessible street corner with curbcuts

While still enjoying my early morning coffee, the quiet atmosphere of our neighborhood was interrupted by the piercing whine of a motor. Since the timing was not right for the weekly appearance of the mowing crew, I peeked out the front door to discover a worker with a concrete saw at the corner. An exciting development!

Having made the move to this efficient, slab-on-grade, no-step house, our excursions around the neighborhood have been limited as the easy rolling sidewalk to our east ended abruptly in weeds and construction debris contained by concrete curb. The current practice has the contractor pouring the public sidewalk as a new house nears completion whereas the responsibility for the ramped corners falls to a city contractor. This work occurs under a separate contract and on a different schedule.

I called Public Works in May and learned that the infrastructure contract for curbcuts, citywide, had just been approved by the City Council. The city staffer reported that work would occur over the summer and be completed by mid-October. However, she did not have any specifics as to when we might see an improvement at the corner of Solstice Place and Maize Avenue.

Well today is the day when the curb will be leveled and the corner retrofitted with a tactile surface for the visually impaired. Once the concrete cures, the new curbcuts will enable easy rolling whether Richard opts for his Ferrari-red walker or his carbon-fiber electric wheelchair. More neighborhood adventures to come.

Knitting

Knit Camp Adieu

October 3, 2026 annbh3562 Comments

All through my retirement years, pattern designer, author, and Knit Camp leader, Marie Greene, has helped guide my knitting journey. She recently announced a slow shut down of Knit Camp. The small business model is no longer viable in today’s economy. While this transition will occur over the next 10-months, I am already wondering who will be my new “go-to” resource. So many choices to investigate.

Some Knit Camp activities, including the weekly conference calls, have already ended, while other benefits will continue. For the rest of my membership, I will receive a free pattern each month. Her well-designed patterns are technically edited and test-knit before release. Over the years, her designs have ranged from mittens and shawls to holiday decorations and sweaters.

Marie’s annual fall Mystery Knit-A-Long (MKAL) launched on October 1 as planned and the three-color, triangular shawl is already on my needles. As with any MKAL, the “clues,” that is the different segments of the pattern, will be released over a set time. The pattern notes describe the Popcorn Catamaran shawl as “an ode to creativity and whimsy while featuring subtle layers of color.” Having cast on the first clue, I already know there will be mini bobbles with clues coming once a week to my in-box.

I fully enjoyed this summer’s virtual Knit Camp Retreat at the Coast. This fifth annual online learning experience featured sessions taught by Marie, as well as a talented roster of guests instructors. There are no plans to offer this event in the future. However, the Olive Knit Tours to Scotland this fall and Ireland next spring will occur as planned. I just will not be flying to those misty isles to see the sheep in the heather.

I will miss the friendly, safe online environment, where Campers shared their Works-in Progress (WIPs) on Wednesdays and Finished Objects on Friday. Where the focus was on fiber and not political divisions. Where the biggest worries might be a day of yarn-chicken or managing time zones for an online book discussion from Oregon to Minnesota to England, Australia, and Japan.

Thank you Marie Greene and fellow Knit Campers! Happy knitting!

Graphic credit: © Marie Greene, Olive Knits.

New House

One Year on Solstice Place

September 19, 2026September 19, 2026 annbh3562 Comments

A year ago today, we closed on the Solstice Place house. We transitioned from a pre-construction deposit to a mortgage; a financial obligation we had not incurred in decades. While buying a house is momentous for any buyer, it was extraordinary for us as this was only our second residential purchase and real estate transactions had changed since 1985.

Even as Parkinson’s Disease limits Richard’s mobility, this slab-on-grade house puts everything on one level; from the alley-access garage to the front door. Gone are the multiple sets of stairs between levels that, at one time, were charming in our First Street house. Now, Richard can roll easily whether using his sleek red, carbon-fiber walker or his lightweight, electric wheelchair.

Through the year, we continued the “right-sizing” exercises begun before the move deciding what to keep and what might be repurposed or recycled. We experimented with the space, determining the “perfect” location only to forget where we put somethings. When we finally remember, we laugh knowing that we are creating new neuropathways.

The list of what we miss is short – the large shade trees along First Street and our garden, especially the rhubarb. But, we have a landscaping solution that is in the planning stages for next summer and pot gardening produced a steady supply of cucumbers, herbs, and Early Girl tomatoes this summer.

By comparison, our satisfaction with Solstice Place is high, from one-level living and an extra bath to energy efficient construction without chilly drafts, from the washer and dryer on pedestals to the kitchen island providing extra counter space for meal prep and baking. Lots to celebrate as we begin another year on Solstice Place.

Other items of interest

Unexpected Surgery

September 11, 2026 annbh3562 Comments

Mayo Clinic sign in foreground with summer flowers and entrance to St Mary's Hospital in background

With quick thinking, I packed Richard’s meds, a simple knitting project, both iPads, two power cords, and a water bottle before following the 1:00 am ambulance to Mayo’s emergency department at St. Mary’s Hospital. Having made this same trip with him 18 months ago, I remembered the long hours on uncomfortable chairs with a depleted phone battery, and I did not want to feel disconnected.

Unlike my sidewalk tumble a couple of weeks ago when the duration of my hospital visit was only two hours, his was in the Emergency Department (ED) for 12-hours. And, while my purple “glue job” was one and done, we were back at St. Mary’s two days later for out-patient surgery.

Despite the vastness of this world-renowned medical institution, with the thousands of staff required to keep 70 operating rooms functioning with the efficiency of high-tech assembly lines, his caregivers were attentive. They stayed with us for as long as was needed, offered thorough explanations, and provided care that never felt rushed. The staff focused on his needs at that moment so that we could be home the same day where he is healing comfortably.

Baking

Cucurbita pepo: Zucchini!

August 28, 2026August 28, 2026 annbh356Leave a comment

two slices of bread with chocolate chips on black slate with partial loaf of bread and a knife

Oh! to be blessed with a friend who, despite brisk spring air, spends hours planting hope in dirt that may not yet have reached an optimum growing temperature.

Who mounds the dirt carefully and slips in a thin oval seed.

Who worries that one seed might not germinate or that the voracious squirrels scurrying across winter-dry grass might discover this smooth, tear shaped gem (having forgotten where the stash of black walnuts was buried last fall) and, as insurance, slips another seed into the soil.

Oh! to be blessed with friends whose short-term memory of last summer’s vibrant bounty is forgotten when planting zucchini.

Along with missing rhubarb with this move to Solstice Place, we have missed the delicate flavor of garden fresh zucchini lightly sautéed in Palestinian olive oil with herbs from our backdoor pots. I have even wondered how we will make it through a winter without a frozen zucchini bread to thaw and toast in December. But, I need not have worried as a friend blessed us with the fruits of his summer harvest. And yes – technically, zucchini is a fruit as it develops from the flower of the plant and contains reproductive seeds – but whether fruit of veggie it is certainly best when converted into Chocolate Chip Pecan Zucchini Bread.

Delicious!

And with more thoughts on this abundant summer wonder, an excerpt from New Lines for Fortune Cookies by James Masao Mitsui:

If you feel like you are getting old,
secretly plant zucchini in your neighbor's flowerbeds.

Reading

A Gathering of Poetry | August 2026

August 20, 2026August 11, 2026 annbh3561 Comment

This month’s poetry selection is from the popular 20th century American poet, Anne Sexton, as she captures the lazy days of late summer.

blue and white flowered towel hanging on a wire with a rolling pin and a pie plate in the lower right corner

I Remember by Anne Sexton

By the first of August
the invisible beetles began
to snore and the grass was
as tough as hemp and was
no color – no more than
the sand was a color and
we had worn our bare feet
bare since the twentieth
of June and there were times
we forgot to wind up your 
alarm clock and some nights
we took our gin warm and neat
from old jelly glasses while
the sun blew out of sight
like a red picture hat and
one day I tied my hair back
with a ribbon and you said
that I looked almost like 
a puritan lady and what
I remember best is that
the door to your room was
the door to mine.

Graphic credit: Geometry. Jar Jar Tea Towel

And with appreciation to Third Thursday bloggers: Kat at As Kat Knits, Bonnie at Highly Reasonable, and Kym at Dancing at the Edge

Reading

Book Club: The Correspondent

August 18, 2026August 18, 2026 annbh3561 Comment

The Correspondent was the latest title discussed by my online book club. It came highly recommended by well-read friends, but I admit I wondered how a story could be structured strictly though letters and emails. I need not have worried as this debut novel evolved naturally with well-defined characters and a narrative that eventually sucked me in.

At the onset of the book, I admit I was not fond of Sylvia Van Antwerp’s opinionated personality. I wanted more refinement and finesse in her correspondence rather than blatant opinion. Each letter whether to a friend or family member, the President, or a blockbuster movie director conveyed the precision of a prosecutor’s closing statement. While many of book’s letters were written by Sylvia, we are also privy to a portion of the responses. It is through these dialogues that we join her exploration of family history, court decisions with long-reaching consequences, and new late-in-life friendships, all moving toward a level of self-awareness and acceptance. A recognition of her own frailties and a new tenderness for others.

Having recently joined The Sunday Letter Project with the intent of putting pen to paper rather than dashing off an ephemeral email or text, I was intrigued by the decades of Sylvia’s letter writing passion. Her world of written correspondence is the stuff of future Ken Burns documentaries whereas everyday text messages with a smattering of emojis will be lost forever.