"After the family and friends went home, after the receptions ended and the sun slid behind winter's gray shroud, what would linger over the city was the certainty of a single, seemingly inalterable fact:  The country was divided, and so Washington was divided, more divided politically than at any time since before World War II."
~ Barack Obama, January 4, 2005 on being sworn in as a member of the 109th Congress.

~ The Audacity of Hope,  B. Obama, President U.S. (b. August 4, 1961) Tree Rivers Press, 2006.



"The sunshine threw his hat away, The orchards spangles hung."



the apple tree


"...Were they pearls, What necklaces could be!"

SUMMER SHOWER  by Emily Dickinson

A drop fell on the apple-tree,
Another on the roof;
A half a dozen kissed the eaves,
And made the gables laugh.

A few went out to help the brook,
That went to help the sea.
Myself conjectured, Were they pearls,
What necklaces could be!

The dust replaced in hoisted roads,
The birds jocoser sung;
The sunshine threw his hat away,
The orchards spangles hung.

The breezes brought dejected lutes,
And bathed them in the glee;
The East put out a single flag,
And signed the fete away.

Dusty Road to James N. Allan Park

John Steinbeck in a letter to Elizabeth Otis* ~ Lao Gatos, October, 1939

"It's a beautiful morning and I am just sitting in it and enjoying it.  Everything is ripe now, apples, pears, grapes, walnuts.  Carol has made pickles and chutney, canned tomatoes.  Prunes and raisins are on the drying trays.  The cellar smells of apples and wine.  The berries are ripe and every bird in the country is here ~ slightly tipsy and very noisy.  The frogs are singing about a rain coming but they can be wrong.  It's nice.

"...Grapes* dropped from the head of the list to second place out here and about time too.  It is far too far when Jack Benny mentions it in his program.  Altogether may be some kind of new existence is opening up.  I don't know.  The last year has been a nightmare all in all.  But now I'm ordering a lot of books to begin study.  And I'll work in the laboratory...

"One nice thing to think of is the speed of obscurity.  Grapes is not first now.  In a month it will be off the list and in six months I'll be forgotten."  ~ Love John


*The Grapes of Wrath, 1939, won Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
*Elizabeth of MacIntosh & Otis, literary agents.
Source:  John Steinbeck A Life in Letters, Penguin Books, 1975.  (b. 1902, d. 1968)

Cayuga Friends ~

Cayuga Gentleman ~ Rick Meesters

There are not many stories that Mr. Meesters has not heard ~ or told!

Most Cayuga residents know Rick for his winning smile and engaging personality.  For many years, he was Cayuga's barber.

Harold Robertson PICTURES IN GLASS

I Just Remember Cayuga? ~

"I just remember Brantford as being this peaceful place, with acres of trees and farmland and beautiful scenery.  It was actually very inspiring for me, it's probably why I later went into art."

~ Phil Hartman.  Brantford-born comedian and actor, quoted by Andrew Ryan in TV Guide, 27 June, 1998.  FAMOUS LASTING WORDS Great Canadian Quotations, J. R. Colombo, Douglas & McIntyre Ltd.

View Harold's PICTURES IN GLASS at www.haroldrobertson.blogspot.com

(Beautiful work, Harold. Thanks for sharing. Click on photo for larger image - lbwalker)

Catherine Stidsen ~

Thursday Afternoon

We Diverge ~ After patiently answering all our questions, Catherine admired glass works of art by Harold Robertson.  Thank you Catherine for a wonderful Thursday afternoon. Fascinating lady!

Read "HER STORIES on www.catherineberrystidsen.org   If you missed Catherine today, she will be back later in the fall.  We will post Thursday afternoons with authors and fascinating personalities on our blog.

Below:  l-r Tracey Zamprogna Stirling, Deanna Schaus, John Walker.

View Harold's PICTURES IN GLASS at www.haroldrobertson.blogspot.com