On Sunday I harvested the Swedish fingerling potatoes and set them out front for the neighbors to take — which they did. Only one little one left. Is it bad manners to take the last one? Guess I’ll have it for my dinner tonight.
A dozen or so years ago we were on Molokai. We stayed in an amazing cottage belonging to dear old friend Cynthia McKenna. You had to scramble up boulders hanging on for dear life with your hands to reach it’s aerie perch, hauling whatever might be needed in backpacks. No amenities. Just incredible isolation, quiet, and primitive beauty. This week Elizabeth was back on the island doing her botanical work for the National Park Service. She sent a new picture of this –um — interesting natural rock formation. And I found the original shot of her “conquering the summit.”
And underneath this picture in the little frame I found:
I think she is about eight here. Her godparents had taken her off for a weekend of house-boating fun. I’m sure she is yelling “faster, please.”
On our early July paddle on this favorite tributary, we encountered a bald eagle, a heron, an otter, a raccoon, a yearling deer, some wild foxglove, lots of splashes to negotiate, some shallows to avoid,
Shortly following WWII, Shirley Hadley and her husband built 1880 and planted a little magnolia much too close to the kitchen window, as it turned out. The Hadley’s quickly outgrew the house and moved away and the magnolia quickly grew too large for that spot — but there it stayed. The family who moved in next and lived here for many years (the house is generally known as “The Rankin House”) kept it cut back so it would not grow right through the kitchen and out into the front yard.
Now, it is three stories high and just as wide. During summertime, the fragrance is so heady that it sometimes wakes me up when it comes in through my open bedroom window. Shirley died this year, but her beautiful tree lives on.
There is this odd Salem thing going on. Some people like to say Salem should be pronounced “So-Lame.” In this instance, I think it’s more a cross between sublime and strangely wonderful. About a dozen old pianos have been placed at random locations around town with signs that say “play me.” 
Roxanne and Susan came out to the one at Minto-Brown last weekend to hold forth. Lizzie seems to be vocalizing while Roxie and Charlie are involved in some sort of original choreography.