Each Little World

Looking back

Given the fact that time is the one luxury I have plenty of at the moment, I decided I should start one of those projects that I've been thinking about forever. Over a number of years, I have used free and public sources to discover as much family history as possible. I now have three matching scrapbooks to compile all this info: One for my grandparents and prior generations; one for my birth family and one for the 30+ years that Mark and I have been together. 

A few years ago I came up with a number of themes — school days, nesting, fashions, sisters — to help me divide up the photos and memorabilia into groupings that would cross generations.  Each one got a labeled accordion folder housed in a computer paper box. That setup let me easily add things to the right group as I came across them. Most recently I started to go through all my old photographs to add the best ones to the folders. By the time I am finished, I will be ready to shred anything that doesn't make it into these folders. 

In the pre-digital era, I organized all our photo prints and negatives in an archival storage system from Light Impressions. It is a great method for finding and preserving print images, even though the company has now gone out of business. When my mom died, all the photos she had amassed got evenly divided among the four Brazill sisters. Any photos that I don't use in these scrapbooks will be offered to my sisters and then disposed of. There are a lot of under-or-over-exposed photos, or just plain bad pix; no reason to hang onto them. 

For the moment, everything has been put away while the garden calls. I keep waiting for a few rainy days to get back to this project but the rain keeps bypassing us for the most part. 

Happy Anniversary . . .

to my gardening partner.

Anniversary celebration

Mark and I have been living in this house 25 years this month which seemed like the perfect occasion to invite all of our friends to stop by. They did. We spent Sunday catching up with folks we haven't seen in a while as well as those we see weekly. The weather was perfect: not too hot or sunny and no annoying bugs. 

. . . 

A rare moment sitting down. I'm chatting with my gardening friend and almost neighbor, Cindy. We were making plans to meet to go hear Fergus Garrett of Great Dixter at Olbrich Botanical Gardens in Madison this week.  

Our photographer friend Tom Schmock took lots of wonderful photos including the one above and the one below of fellow photog Dan.  

Dan's wife Susann took a few photos the way most of us do these days: with her phone. 

We told everyone that they were free to invite a friend since it was an open house and the number of guests didn't matter. These women were "friends of a friend' and we had a great chat about my Conran canvas chairs. She also owns the same chair and had never come across it before. I've never seen it at anyone's house either. 

When we have a big group like this, there is enough room in our garden to be able to walk around and still enjoy the views and have room to stop and talk. 

These two were among the early arrivals which is why no one is sitting on the bench. It was occupied most of the day. 

An artist/photographer and two writers. Bobbie (on the right) is interviewing Mark as preparation to write one of the essays for his book on his State Street photos. 

Beth and Dave are doing extensive work on their first house together and starting a garden as well. 

Beth asked me to walk her around and tell her what some of the plants were and when (or if) they flowered. It quickly turned into a tour group!

Jutta (with her friend Paul) is the wonderful horticulturalist who has been helping us get the garden under control. I love working with someone who knows plants!

Tony (with his friend Audrey) used to live in the house behind us. As a city arborist he was a great neighbor who could talk to us about our trees and do a little pruning as well. 

Four gardeners who live on the other side of town. John and John (left) are mainstays of the Wisconsin Hardy Plant Society. Gary (in the baseball cap on right, with Joey) is one of the first serious gardeners I ever met when I moved to Madison. He's involved with historic preservation and very knowledgeable on the subject. We got our heron sculpture from him as well. 

Two former co-workers from The Capital Times newspaper.

Two of my sisters-in-law catch up. 

Mark and I had a great time and hope everyone else enjoyed themselves as much as we did. 

Though we will both admit that standing on our feet and talking almost constantly for six hours took more out of us than we expected. We could tell it's been five years since we did this and we are definitley getting older!

Good news and bad news

The good news is that today marks ten years since I first began my blog, Each Little World. Since that seems to me like something worth celebrating, I'm taking the day off! 

The bad news is that more rain is forecast for today with potential thunderstorms Sunday and Monday. Even if we don't get any record amounts of rain, much of the city of Madison and western Dane County can ill afford even another inch of water. My side of the city took the brunt of Monday's storm but the opposite side of Madison is now taking the brunt of the aftermath. The lakes on both sides of the isthmus are rising, water is being released from the Yahara River via the Tenney Locks into Lake Monona to keep the dam from giving way. City officials said that they have no historic reference points for a rain event like the one we just had that dumped up to 10 inches of rain on the city’s West Side. They are preparing for the worst.

I posted this picture not long ago as it is one of the illustrations the Wisconsin State Journal used in their recent series on the Yahara chain of lakes. You can easily see why everyone is worried about more rain. And you can read about how this is part of long-term climate change in this blog post from the UW-Madison Limnology Lab. They study inland water systems and have the records to show what is happening on our lakes and in the Midwest in general. It is not an encouraging story but one well worth reading. The city is providing free sand and sandbags for folks on East side (photo below) but we will need more than sandbags to deal with what appears to be our new normal.

 

BOTH PHOTOS FROM THE WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL NEWSPAPER

Nine years later . . .

A lot of water has gone under the bridge since I wrote my first blog post on Sunday, August 24, 2008. I was newly unemployed after the daily paper I worked for decided to go digital and stop print publication. I decided I should enter the new online world with my own publication and have never looked back. I thought it would be a good way to keep my writing skills polished while I job hunted. I loved being able to showcase as many photos as I wanted to use and not have to worry about space or color or word count or any of the concerns of print. 

After 30 years of writing for newspapers I started out with long posts very similar to the newspaper columns and feature articles I was known for at the time. Even as a columnist there was a limit to how much of myself could go into a column — even my garden columns. It took me quite a while to make the transition to blogging where it's OK if it's all about me! Unlike most bloggers I have never limited myself to one topic. All those years of being a generalist means I have too many interests and too much to say to stick to one topic. So you will find posts on food, fashion, history, politics, books and more in my little world.

Having had a successful journalism career before I ever began blogging, I don't worry about how many people are following me. So you won't find links to Amazon or giveaways or contests here. Just me writing about something I find of interest and hope you will as well. When I began the blog in 2008 I never expected to still be here nine years later. But I am a creature of habit who spent a life ruled by deadlines, so almost daily blogging seems entirely natural to me. I hope you will stay with me and we'll see if we can make it an even ten years!

Here's a link to my very first post that explains where the name of my blog originated and what it means.

First date

Wednesday was the 30th anniversary of the day Mark and I first met. So we recreated our first date at the ice cream counter at Memorial Union on the UW-Madison campus. We were long past student age on that occasion but the Union Terrace has always been both a safe and romantic place to arrange a first meeting with a blind date. The actual date is easy to remember if you live in Wisconsin, as Syttende Mai (17th May) is Norwegian Constitution Day.

We celebrated with breakfast at the University Club (where our waitress snapped a photo above), made stops at 4 campus art exhibits and at a fabulous display of natural history materials in the rare book room in Memorial Library. We ended as we began 30 years ago with Babcock orange chocolate chip ice cream.

Keep on pedaling

That phrase — Keep on pedaling — is the secret to life according to my brother-in-law, Tony G. He may not know it, but I've realized it's also the secret to blogging. There's always something to write about and there's always someone who wants to read it. My job is to find that something, turn it into an illustrated story and present it to you. I've been doing that for six years, since Sunday, August 24, 2008.

Each year at this time, I publish the source of the name for my blog along with my original introductory words. My blog name is not self-explanatory, as so many are, and I think it is helpful to know its deeper meaning.

For the mind, by nature stagey, welds its frame

Tomb-like around each little world of a day.

We jump from picture to picture and cannot follow

the living curve that is breathlessly the same.

— Louis Mac Neice / 1907-1963

. . .

What little world?

EACH LITTLE WORLD that collides with mine:

The world of interiors and exteriors; bibliophiles; china and dishing; feasts and fests; food; flowers and gardens; material possessions and textile obsessions; worldly goods and bads.

Your worlds and mine.

Let the collision begin.

I've been lucky to discover a world of readers whose pursuits are as diverse as my own. Some of you I've known for years in my pre-blog life, some of you I've met in person post-blog and some of you I look forward to meeting one of these days. I picture all of you when I write, when I decide what to write, and when I look to see what you've written. 

Thank you for continuing to visit my little world. I love to hear what you think so don't be shy; leave a comment. Here's to another year of sharing our worlds: writing and reading and riding side-by-side — not colliding.

The above quoted poetry text is the 2nd stanza of Louis Mac Neice's poem, "August," as it appears in A Little Treasury of Modern Poetry.

Belated anniversary

Friday, August 23rd marked the end of my fifth year of blogging. Thanks to all of you who've followed me and continue to comment.  

This is what I posted on 8/23/08 and it still holds true today:

 

For the mind, by nature stagey, welds its frame

Tomb-like around each little world of a day.

We jump from picture to picture and cannot follow

the living curve that is breathlessly the same.

— Louis Mac Neice / 1907-1963

What little world?

EACH LITTLE WORLD that collides with mine:

The world of interiors and exteriors; bibliophiles; china and dishing; feasts and fests; food; flowers and gardens; material possessions and textile obsessions; worldly goods and bads.

Your worlds and mine.

Let the collision begin.

. . .

The opening quoted text is the 2nd stanza of Louis Mac Neice's poem, "August," as it appears in A Little Treasury of Modern Poetry.

Party like it's 1991!

That's the year that the Bolz Conservatory opened at Olbrich Botanical Gardens! That wonderful building and the living environment it houses are now so much a part of Olbrich and the larger community that I can't imagine life without its tropical splendor — especially on a cold, snowy day like today. The celebration kicks off this Friday with Party Under the Palms — food, music and entertainment in the conservatory after dark!

There are events all weekend for both kids and adults including an opportunity to meet scientist Meg Lowman, one of the world's first "arbornauts," who uses all sorts of structures to explore tropical treetops, home to approximately half of planet Earth's biodiversity. The photo below gives you a good sense of why she's called  "Canopy Meg"!

There are so many special events — some of them ongoing — that you should check out all the details, days and times on Olbrich's web site. You can also celebrate the conservatory with a gorgeous limited edition Anniversary poster with a photo of the Bolz Conservatory taken by local photographer (and gardener) Zane Williams.

Each Little World

For the mind, by nature stagey, welds its frame

Tomb-like around each little world of a day.

We jump from picture to picture and cannot follow

the living curve that is breathlessly the same.

— Louis Mac Neice / 1907-1963

What little world?

EACH LITTLE WORLD that collides with mine:

The world of interiors and exteriors; bibliophiles; china and dishing; feasts and fests; food; flowers and gardens; material possessions and textile obsessions; worldly goods and bads.

Your worlds and mine.

Let the collision begin.

The above two paragraphs and accompanying two photos announced the arrival of my blog exactly three years ago today. Though collision is certainly not the right word — more like a whisper — given the few folks who actually read it in those days.

In the beginning I posted daily; sometimes even twice a day. It seemed easy compared to putting out two editions of a daily newspaper as I did in my pre-blogging life. I considered the blog to be more colorful versions of the myriad topics I covered in print. But when I went to the garden bloggers' 2009 meet-up in Chicago, they told me myriad topics were a blogging no-no. It's all about niche marketing and staying on topic. If you've been reading this blog for the last year — or week — you know that's not what you'll find here. I veer off track easily and often.

While I love to garden and write about it, I am equally adamant about art and reading. I am passionate about politics and history, and have been fascinated by food, fashion and fiber long before I ever picked up a trowel. In fact, I came to gardening through Elizabethan embroidery. I have been steadily writing about those topics since 1981 with a couple of short breaks between publishers. I've said it before and I say it again: To limit my blog to gardening is to limit my life. 

If you live in Wisconsin — or pay attention to politics — you know my life, like that of thousands of others, has been turned topsy turvy by the actions of our governor. Some of you were not very happy when this mostly-garden-blog suddenly went political in February of this year. I wish I could say you've seen and read the last passionate political post but I know the fight's not over, and thus neither are my takes on current events. I spent part of my newspaper career as an editorial writer and editorial page editor — professionally opinionated as I like to say. I was writing about politics right along side of home and garden stories. And that's how I see the blog — the place where all my worlds can come together.  

I've been lucky to discover a world of readers whose pursuits are equally diverse. Some of you I've known for years in my pre-blog life, some of you I've met in person post-blog and some of you I look forward to meeting one of these days. I picture all of you when I write, when I decide what to write, and when I look to see what you've written. 

Thank you for continuing to visit my little world. I'd love to hear what you think so don't be shy; leave a comment. If you do comment, be sure to scroll down and type in the crazy combo of numbers and letters that let's me know you are a real reader and not a robot. Here's to another year of sharing our worlds.