Books by the old Leather Chair

  • Snow In The Summer
  • My Bible
  • The Power of Silence
  • What Comes Next and to Like It
  • Encore Provence
  • A Year in Provence

Friday, December 16, 2011

Potato Soup And Praise Of Craziness

A cold, rainy  and windy day
Feels like it could snow.

On a recent trip to the big city
I stopped in the upscale bake shop
bought my special bread
and noticed their soup for the day
potato with an addition of turnips and mushrooms.
Now I do not usually like any soup but my own
but ordered a cup - it came with a crusty piece of bread.
Oh, it was so good.
So, today at noon I made my potato soup,
was able to find 4 small turnips in the garden
had fresh mushrooms on hand
I made my soup a little different.
It was good.....

~~~~~On cold evenings
my grandmother
with ownership of half her mind...
the other half having flown back to Bohemia..

spread newspapers over the porch floor
so, she said, the garden ants could crawl beneath,
as under a blanket, and keep warm,

and what shall I wish for, for myself,
but, being so struck by the lightning of year,
to be like her with what is left, that loving.

~~In Praise Of Craziness, Of A Certain Kind~~    Mary Oliver

11 comments:

the wild magnolia said...

Oh my goodness gracious, the soup, the soup, I will have to make small pot for my very own self. Isn't is a wonder you had on hand what you needed. Scrumptious.

And now, to the Mary Oliver poem. how have I missed this??? Glorious new discovery. Thanks a million times.

If this "half" should happen to me, I would like for the first time to fly to bohemia. Sigh. In praise of craziness, indeed!

Happy evening, happy saturday yet to be. :-)

Anonymous said...

Soup sounds glorious. I am wishing you peace and a warm tummy. And, what a treat: another Mary Oliver poem. I must get another one of her books. Craziness is just the right subject for me tonight.

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

Sandra and Ellen, thanks for visiting. Soup for one is the easiest and the most healthy I can prepare. Especially when you do not feel like cooking at all !!
I keep discovering more gems in my Mary Oliver poem books..

Tabor said...

Mary Oliver is such a great poet. I use her book on writing poetry to find my way...but she is so special that I go back to her poetry to learn.

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

Tabor, I have most of Mary Oliver's books. Would like her first book published but too pricey
She speaks to my heart...

lil red hen said...

Loved the poem!! I'm always imagining something about small critters.

I think we'll have soups and chili for our family Christmas meal; not a lot of fuss involved.

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

Charlotte, my near family will come on Christmas Eve. Breakfast and lunch. At their home for little girls Santa on Christmas day.
A cold damp day...Thank you for visiting me.

Judy said...

I made potato soup just last week! Delicious--but yours sounds better then mine.

Beverly said...

Wish I was there to share the soup...I really love the poem. I need to get a book. What is your favorite?

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

Judy and Beverly, wish you were here to join me :)
Beverly, I have a number of her poem books. Each book has some special poems and some are repeats in each book. One of her latest
is "New And Select Poems" by Mary Oliver. You might start there...
I buy on Amazon

Darla said...

Beautiful contrast of topics...the soup...the gentle, loving craziness...