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Quote of the Day: Henry Beston

January 3rd, 2016

“As I settle down in this familiar house, with the lamplight glowing from its windows and the great planets crossing the sky above its chimney tops, I find I am shaking off the strange oppression which came over me when I lived by an urban sense and understanding of time. In a world so convenient and artificial that there is scarcely day or night, and one is bulwarked against the seasons and the year, time, so to speak, having no natural landmarks, tends to stand still. The consequence is that life and time and history become unnaturally a part of some endless and unnatural present, and violence becomes for some the only remedy. Here in the country, it all moves ahead again. Spring is not only a landmark, but it looks ahead to autumn, and winter forever looks forward to spring.”

Hendry Beston in Northern Farm

winter 3
winter 1
The seasons, something I love about living in the northeast. Winter is here and I’m enjoying what it brings to my life, rest and peace.

What are you enjoying about this season?

6 Comments to “Quote of the Day: Henry Beston”
  1. Chris on January 3, 2016 at 7:41 pm

    I love that poem and so true! However winter in the Northwest is not quite as bucolic as winter in the Northeast with your beautiful snow, so I am enjoying this winter season in Kauai, swimming in the ocean everyday! :)

    Reply to Chris's comment

  2. Chris on January 3, 2016 at 11:18 pm

    I meant exerpt, not poem. Also forgot to mention Hendry Beston’s, The Outermost House. One of the most beautiful and profound thoughts of his on our relationship with the natural world, especially animals is my most favorite in all the world.
    I will definitely have to read Northern Farm!

    Reply to Chris's comment

  3. Joan on January 4, 2016 at 9:23 am

    I am enjoying winter now that we have snow on the ground. The brightness of the snow does a lot to improve my mood in this time of short days and long nights. I enjoy sitting down with my knitting (which I only do in the winter) making things for friends and family, and sitting in front of the woodstove with its flickering flames in the evening. I also enjoy getting out for walks (or snowshoeing or skiing when we have enough snow) on bright winter days. Grey days are very hard on me, especially when they go on for a long time, but I try to force myself out even when it is grey outside.

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    • Susy on January 4, 2016 at 11:32 am

      I’m so with you on that, the snow does an amazing job of covering up all the sad, brown stuff and making everything clean and bright.

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  4. Nebraska Dave on January 5, 2016 at 11:54 pm

    Susy, well, it wasn’t really brown and dead stuff when our snow came on Christmas Eve. It was a real Courier and Ives scene outside the window. Such a wonder land of sparkling snow on Christmas day. Snow plows worked through the night and by the next morning the roads were cleared enough that the family made an easy trip to our destination for Christmas dinner and present opening. Another snow came on the Monday after Christmas and is still on the ground. It’s been so cold that not much of the snow has melted. It’s a good thing because it still has that clean sparkle to it.

    I too love the different seasons. Each has beauty and when I am just getting tired the current season, the next one comes along. I’ve not been to the North East part of the country but Nebraska has very distinct season that usually last about three months, give or take a couple weeks. This year was very unusual with mild weather all the way up to Christmas week.

    Have a great Maine Winter day.

    Reply to Nebraska Dave's comment

  5. Jennie on January 23, 2016 at 1:45 am

    Coming from Mn I hated the cold- but I love the Pacific Northwest weather- and I even love the grey but there is something so sharp and clear about the frigid air that I miss- briefly.
    I just finished re-reading My Antonia by Willa Cather- love that book.

    Reply to Jennie's comment

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This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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