Life as I know It

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San Luis Obispo, California, and South Bristol, Maine, United States
Author ~ Illustrator ~ Lecturer

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

A Wind from the Sea


From the steps to the tidepools.


High tide in my favorite tidepools just steps from our porch. When it is a hot day and the tide goes out, I can harvest my own flaky sea salt.

Dear Friends,

After a hard and hot (temps around 107) media tour in Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas, we are finally HOME.


We walked in our front door, threw open the windows and screen door, and a gentle, brisk wind from the sea washed all our troubles away.



We filled our birdfeeders, made syrup for the hummingbirds, and talked to the family of crows that came to know us years ago. They assembled, cawed, murmured, clicked their bills, and demanded their food. Within minutes, the goldfinches, nuthatches, white-throated sparrows (who wake me early each morning with their delicious songs), chickadees, red squirrel, and chipmunks appeared. And somehow, the hummingbirds forgave us for our late arrival and the lack of flowers, and feasted almost immediately at their feeder.

On our front porch, we were scolded by an anxious mama and papa caring for a nest full of young. In the old robin's nest where we tended robin babies last year, we found baby Dark-eyed juncos. They fledged just two days after we arrived, and we watched them take their first flight.



The last baby junco


Our patch of wild blueberries is really producing, but we'll probably never taste one with the birds and beasts feasting (they're welcome).


I will be getting settled now, finishing the last illustrations for my new children's bird book, and doing the recommended rewrites.

Here is a poem that fell out of a book I picked up yesterday. It seems so appropriate.

Long Ago
by Eugene Field

I once knew all the birds that came
And nested in our orchard trees;
For every flower I had a name–
My friends were woodchucks, toads, and bees;
I knew where thrived in yonder glen
What plants would soothe a stone-bruised toe-
Oh, I was very learned then;
But that was very long ago!

I knew the spot upon the hill
Where checkerberries could be found,
I knew the rushes near the mill
Where pickerel lay that weighed a pound!
I knew the wood, –the very tree
Where lived the poaching, saucy crow,
And all the woods and crows knew me–
But that was very long ago.

Sending love from Paradise,

Sharon

P.S. THANK YOU for cards and letters, e-mails and gifts. Yuki, my herbal friend from Kentucky, I thank you for the lovely gifts from Japan including The Herbs magazine with the photo of the two of us and the story about my books. Your packet went first to California and was then forwarded to Maine. WISH I COULD READ IT! You are a sweetheart.

47 comments:

cheris said...

Thank you for coming to Austin, Sharon. I really enjoyed meeting you at Bookpeople. So sorry the weather was/is horrendous. Good luck with the bird book!
Cheris, Violet & Graham

Mozart's Girl said...

So happy to think of you both home in your beloved Maine, dearest Sharon & Jeff!What a perfect way to end the summer. I know you'll savour every minute. Relax & enjoy xoxo

FlowerLady Lorraine said...

Dear Sharon ~ What a delightful post and that poem was just right. Glad to hear you are settling into your summer home and all your friends are coming to visit.

FlowerLady

Vee said...

Oh you've arrived just in time for this glorious weather. I'm so glad that I can think of you safely tucked in there. That you are still working on illustrations delights me even more, though perhaps is not the same thrill for you. Have a happy August and September...is October pushing it?

Sharon Lovejoy said...

Rachel (Mozart's Girl)

Dear friend,

I was JUST thinking of you. I kept the adorable bird tag that was tied onto my gift when I arrived at your apartment in London. Every day I look at the birdie (which is hanging on a bed post), smile, and say hi to you.

Love,

S

Susan Branch said...

I can just hear the sigh of joy from you! Welcome Home! ♥ Put your feet up and stay awhile! xoxo

Pat said...

Your happiness at being by the Maine sea coast just leaps off the page...relax, enjoy the sea breezes and settle in.
Looking forward to future posts from your cottage by the sea.

Cindy Garber Iverson said...

So happy to hear you are finally settled in your beloved Maine to get some much needed rest and relaxation... well sort of since you have the book to work on. I'm like you. Birdsong brings me the greatest peace.

Cindy at Rosehaven Cottage

Corrina said...

Yay!!! You are home and welcomed by the creatures and the sea. ENJOY.
PS, Appledore was glorious. I am already itching to go back...

jaz@octoberfarm said...

hi sharon...is it killer hot i maine too? i hate this summer. everything here is dead or dying! the birds ate all of my grapes and berries before i got to them!

Dog Trot Farm said...

Welcome home Sharon! "Maine The Way Life Should Be!" could there be any more truth to these words. Might you be visiting any "local" book stores? Enjoy, and have a wonderful remainder to your summer,Ocean breezes, bird song and blueberries, sounds like heaven to me.

Susan said...

I bet it feels good just to breathe! I agree with Susan...put your feet up and relax. Wish I was there to brew some mint tea (iced, of course) and have some cookies while we play catch up!

Rebecca said...

I can almost feel that breeze myself!
I wish I was there. I like the "Welcome to Christmas Cove ME" sign and the sweet poem....

Melody said...

Welcome back to the East Coast! So happy to have you here sharing a coast line (though hundreds of miles apart)! Happy Maine Days to you! Breathe deep and enjoy! :)))

Pondside said...

I could feel your relief at coming home to the cool, Atlantic breezes after your hot tour!
Enjoy!

Rock Spring Garden Club said...

welcome back to the East, my friend! xoxoxoxo t

Larkrise garden girl said...

Hi Sharon, Maine sounds like a fairy tale with all the creatures coming out to see you and wondering where you have been. Have a great time in your home and
soak in the wildlife. There is nothing like poetry to say everything you feel.Cheri

Lemon Verbena Lady said...

Our birds were happy to have The Herbal Husband home, Sharon. They have him wrapped around their little beaks! He loves them, they love him! He talks to the crows as well and we have a crow baby this year. Maybe we have had others, but this one is very vocal and makes him/herself known when it is around. Very funny. Happy you have made it to Maine. xxoo Nancy (and The Herbal Husband)

Bonnie K said...

Glad to hear you are settled in Maine. I was exhausted just hearing about your journeys. I missed home and we were only in Minnesota for 4 days. Can't wait to see how life in Maine is. Hope it cools some. Life in South Dakota is beautiful.

GRACE PETERSON said...

Hi Sharon, I'm glad you made it safe and sound to your little slice of paradise. It sounds like the critters are really happy you're home. Except maybe for the Junco family. :)

Lori ann said...

OH wonderful! you've arrived! glad you survived the heat and now can enjoy the cool ocean breeze.

I think you are like snow white too dear Sharon, the bird and wild life flock to you, they know!

enjoy these days.
xoxo lori

Dawn said...

My heart is swelling Sharon...Maine, sweet Maine. I am so glad you are there, on that little corner of the world, where peace and nature abide.
The creatures, great and small, must be so happy that you've returned!
xoxo

Darla said...

Welcome home...sounds as it the critters were waiting your arrival.

rebecca sweet said...

I swear I felt that soft breeze blow in your front door, washing your troubles away and am so happy for you both. Take deep breaths and enjoy every minute of your lovely, lovely home. Thinking of you on the other side of the country! :)

Kay's flowers said...

I pray that your time there is peaceful, restful, shared with many good friends and everything you need.

Many Blessings,

Kay

Dan said...

How lovely to have tide pools on your doorstep! Your birds have obviously missed you!
Dan
-x-

Kay Guest said...

LOVE it when you get back to Maine! I know I'm not with you but you make me feel that I am.
Could that little junco know that you are writing a bird book? Maybe he's trying to be on the cover?
Tut, tut...shameless promotion on his part!
Oh, my night blooming cereus has bloomed for 3 nights in a row!
Kay

Sharon Lovejoy said...

Kay dear,

I LOVE IT when we get back to Maine.

The weather is cool and breezy, the nights are so clear...last night the Milky Way looked like a spool of starlight.

Love,

S

Marguerite said...

You sound so happy to be back in Maine. I'm wishing you good weather and some quiet time to enjoy the east coast. Have a wonderful summer.

MerrieSherrie said...

Welcome home to your little slice of heaven!! I was so wondering if you had made it to your charming place in Maine. I think of you each time I am up in the little cabin with the 'Mitey Nice' kitchen. It, too, has stars you can just pluck from the sky...so unlike the smoggy valley below. Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy and fill your heart!! Hugs, Sherry xx

kj said...

dear sharon,
so maine is 'home,' why does that please me so much--because you know and love where i know and love too? i welocme you back. i am amazed how many friends are there to greet and tweet you.

lean back, my friend. i hope even the final inch of your book is interrupted often by sea and scent.

love love
kj

Donna OShaughnessy said...

There really is...No place like Home

But you already knew that. I love your posts Sharon. They relax me

hens teeth said...

Oh Sharon, what a simply beautiful post.

Teri said...

How wonderful to have homes on both coasts. What could be better! Do you stay the entire summer there, enjoying the water? I imagine it is hard to pull yourself away from either place. Both places are so wonderful. Enjoy your time there and relax. The sounds will help soothe.

From the Kitchen said...

I hope to see more of your lovely place in Maine. The photos of that rugged coastline are wonderful. Each coast so different but fortunate to have you. Enjoy!

Best,
Bonnie

Anonymous said...

Sharon,

What a perfect welcome to your home in Maine. And to think that you're working on a bird book at the same time. That has to be more than a happy coincidence!

Betty said...

What a lovely homecoming. Hope you can take it easy for a while now.
May the sea breezes refresh your body and soul.

Cindy (Applestone Cottage) said...

Sigh...this is a simply devine post Sharon!
Maine is one of the most beautiful states there is!
I could easily live there.
Hugs friend,
Cindy

Anonymous said...

Maine is such a beautiful place! Relax & enjoy! Can you tell me the author of "Call to Maine"?

Thanks,
Grace

Lili said...

I am smiling ear to ear for you, welcome home dear friend! I'd like to say I know just how you feel being back. And magical things like that poem just falling out of the book make such a welcome homecoming. I know you must be very busy, but if you do have a tiny break, we would love to drive southward to meet up with you sometime before you leave! xoxo ~Lili

Jim Long said...

I know how anxious you must have been to get back to Maine, and to have the junco family waiting, a grand homecoming. And crows remember and so much fun they came to welcome you, as well. I'm glad you're getting settled in and your summer of travel-abouts is behind you. Soak up the pleasures of Maine, I know your new book will be wonderful.

Farmgirl Susan said...

What a beautiful homecoming! Welcome, welcome.

P.S. Please send some of those gloriously cool ocean breezes to Missouri! :)

Sharon Lovejoy said...

Hey Farmgirl,

Wish I could send you some. Today was rainy and chilly, but we still ate all our meals outdoors in the screened porch.

Tonight a dear friend came over and we ate out there by candlelight with a wild, wild sea slamming into the ledges. Wonderful!

S

One Woman's Journey - a journal being written from Woodhaven - her cottage in the woods. said...

Enjoy this special time.
There is something about the ocean
that is soothing.
It calls me
but as of yet this matriarch
has not answered :)

Stephanie Roth Sisson said...

I'm just grinning reading this, Sharon...you and Jeff in your beloved Maine. :) xo

black eyed susans kitchen said...

Oh you make Maine look so enticing! I have been to every state on the east coast except for Maine...now I will Have to get up there!!

~Lavender Dreamer~ said...

What a beautiful poem and a lovely Herbs magazine! The photos of the sea are awe inspiring! ♥