Seriously, this is a dream come true! Imagine exploring one of the oldest working mills on Long Island, beside the sea, on the grounds where poet William Cullen Bryant wrote poetry. Not only that, visit his study, explore native gardens, and plan history lessons inside a national treasure. (Register on Frontline)

Bryant was a civic leader and editor who commuted by boat to his Manhattan office. There was no train yet, so he helped set up the Long Island Railroad. If you take the Oyster Bay line to Grand Central or Penn Station, you can thank Bryant for making you change at Jamaica. The man was not perfect. 

But let's give him a break since he did help start the New York Public Library, Central Park and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Bryant Park has a big statue of him as a thank you. 

Would you like to learn more about Bryant, literature, nature and history with me this summer?  There will be plenty of time to tour with experts, share...

Last week we wore winter boots. Today, I jumped in my 10 foot wide pool. Good thing I didn't close it early.

Over the weekend, there was a street fair that had not been held in years due to weather and well, the pandemic. You saw everything from ski jackets to tank tops and no one really got it right.  A few people fainted from heat.

Having a summer day in the fall is a gift if you love warm weather and annoying if you don't.  We expect seasonal changes but lately the weather has been even more unpredictable. How do you deal with it? I will pull out the flip flops and just pretend fall never happened. I will sit by the beach and enjoy the sunset. Others will keep wearing fleece jackets even if it makes them faint. I wonder, can you avoid unexpected change by pretending it doesn't exist?

Not if you are truly mindful. If it's 80 degrees in October, please leave your winter coat at home.

WRITING YOGA® PROMPT #2021: Write about the Unexpected Reversal of Seasons

There is a...

Much of the year, most of us live and work in climate controlled environments. Bugs are not welcome. Spring invites us to get outside and create.

In the school where I work as a librarian, the kids are developing a native pollinator garden.  I didn't even know it was a thing! The idea is to plant native flowers and hopefully attract native insects and birds to pollinate them. It involves dirt. The delicate among us might complain, but we will work together as a community to make it happen. The majority of my students do not have ancestors who know what the soil looked like 500 years here. Nature returns to Long Island. 

Our students are anxious to plant, but the soil needs to be prepared. We are turning over grass and putting down organic mulch. The hardest part of it all is being patient! The ground is ready but the air is not.

What are you preparing for now? How do you stay patient when all you want to do is get close to the ground and plant?

WRITING YOGA®...

Pete Vanderberg knows the sea and he knows his way around the page too. He writes about family, the Long Island beaches, and sailing, but there’s a flavor that comes from his experience serving in the US Navy that makes this book so unique.

Peter Vanderberg and I went to grad school together (disclaimer) and I have always loved these poems. It is wonderful to see them come alive in print.  Weather-Eye is a physically beautiful book. It is a collaboration of paintings by his artist brother, James Vanderberg, and poems by Peter. 

I am grateful that he is allowing me to share two favorites with you.  Take this book with you to the beach this summer. It will change the way you see the tides. 

– Stefanie 

Splice

Father with three sons in a sailboat,
minds’ eyes in four directions
until drawn in to a rope turned line
by his word & the bay beneath us.

Difference between a knot & tangle
is the knot will hold & easily...