Ever since I went to hear Mary Oliver read her poems last week I have been feeling quiet, wanting to be outside even more and inside on the computer not at all. She is amazing, inspiring, and has such a sense of humor. She read more than two dozen pieces, including several of my favorites such as Wild Geese and one that brought tears to my eyes called Red. Then she took questions from the audience and shared bits about her everyday life, why she writes about the beauty of nature, and about her writing process. She made us feel as though she was sharing her secrets with us, which made the full auditorium feel much more intimate and conversational. I wonder if she felt inspired by the Kansas landscape to write a poem while she was here?
On Saturday M. and I walked some trails in the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve. The day was gorgeously sunny and the sky blue. We walked on green rolling hills, saw cows in the distance, a lizard resting on a rock, bunches of wild blue indigo blooming, a pair of yellow goldfinches in a tall cottonwood and we saw a bluebird. We later enjoyed a picnic lunch under a large elm tree. I took nearly an entire roll of film, which I can't wait to get processed.
The collards in our garden are coming on pretty strong and I tried cooking a "mess" of them last night. Would like to find a good recipe but all I've found so far (without much hard searching, honestly) call for cooking them for an hour with a ham hock.
I hope you're well today,
H