R.I.P. Peter Matthiessen

And only the enlightened can recall their former lives; for the rest of us, the memories of past existences are but glints of light, twinges of longing, passing shadows, disturbingly familiar, that are gone before they can be grasped, like the passage of that silver bird on Dhaulagiri.”
― Peter Matthiessen, The Snow Leopard

The most "Zen" of authors has left this world for a new adventure: Peter Matthiessen, author of The Snow Leopard, Far Tortugas, At Play in the Fields of the Lord, and many more. His love of the earth and his philosophical musings on our place here had a major influence on all of us growing up in the 70s and 80s.

Obituary in the LA Times

Matthiessen, the only writer to win the National Book Award in both fiction and nonfiction, was both an elegant novelist and a rugged naturalist, a traveler known for his graceful yet spare descriptions of the wildest places on Earth.
Over six decades, he produced acclaimed volumes of natural history based on his treks through East Africa, New Guinea and the Amazon. He chronicled the plight of disappearing tribes. He wrote books about Cesar Chavez and Native American activist Leonard Peltier. He became a Zen devotee and wrote of a painful spiritual journey as he hiked through the Himalayas in "The Snow Leopard." At the same time, he wrote fiction; four of his novels centered on a respected and reviled sugar-cane planter who was killed by his neighbors in the Everglades.
He also helped found the Paris Review, the renowned literary magazine, which he used as a cover during his brief career as a spy for the CIA.

. . . Matthiessen traveled to remote corners of Alaska, Siberia, Peru, East Africa, Nepal and elsewhere. In central New Guinea, he was part of the 1961 Harvard-Peabody expedition that chronicled a Stone Age tribe, the Kurelu. Michael Rockefeller, the son of then-New York Gov. Nelson Rockefeller, disappeared on the same expedition.
Matthiessen's most controversial work was "In the Spirit of Crazy Horse," a critical look at the conviction of Leonard Peltier in the 1975 murders of two FBI agents. Lawsuits filed by an FBI agent and South Dakota's former governor, Bill Janklow, were dismissed in 1990.

Poetry Passion ~ The Chill of December

Mistletoe

Sitting under the mistletoe
(Pale-green, fairy mistletoe),
One last candle burning low,
All the sleepy dancers gone,
Just one candle burning on,
Shadows lurking everywhere:
Some one came, and kissed me there.

Tired I was; my head would go
Nodding under the mistletoe
(Pale-green, fairy mistletoe),
No footsteps came, no voice, but only,
Just as I sat there, sleepy, lonely,
Stooped in the still and shadowy air
Lips unseen—and kissed me there.

~ Walter De La Mare

~~~~~~

311

It sifts from Leaden Sieves —
It powders all the Wood.
It fills with Alabaster Wool
The Wrinkles of the Road —

It makes an Even Face
Of Mountain, and of Plain —
Unbroken Forehead from the East
Unto the East again —

It reaches to the Fence —
It wraps it Rail by Rail
Till it is lost in Fleeces —
It deals Celestial Vail

To Stump, and Stack — and Stem —
A Summer’s empty Room —
Acres of Joints, where Harvests were,
Recordless, but for them —

It Ruffles Wrists of Posts
As Ankles of a Queen —
Then stills its Artisans — like Ghosts —
Denying they have been —
~ Emily Dickinson


~~~~~~

From "Marmion" (1808)



Heap on more wood! — the wind is chill;
But let it whistle as it will,
We’ll keep our Christmas merry still.
Each age has deemed the new born year
The fittest time for festal cheer.
And well our Christian sires of old.
Loved when the year its course had rolled,
And brought blithe Christmas back again,
With all his hospitable train.





Domestic and religious rite
Gave honour to the holy night:
On Christmas eve the bells were rung;
On Christmas eve the mass was sung;
That only night, in all the year,
Saw the stoled priest the chalice rear.
The damsel donned her kirtle sheen;
The hail was dressed with holly green;
Forth to the wood did merry men go,
To gather in the mistletoe,

Then opened wide the baron’s hall
To vassal, tenant, serf, and all;
Power laid his rod of rule aside,
And ceremony doff’d his pride.
The heir, with roses in his shoes,
That night might village partner choose.
The lord, underogating, share
The vulgar game of “post and pair!”
All hailed with uncontroll’d delight
And general voice, the happy night
That to the cottage, as the crown,
Brought tidings of salvation down.
The fire with well dried logs supplied,
Went roaring up the chimney wide;
The huge hail table’s oaken face,
Scrubb’d till it shone, the day to grace,
Bore then upon: its massive board
No mark to part the squire and lord.
Then was brought in the lusty brawn,
By old, blue-coated serving-man;
Then the grim boar’s head frowned on high,
Crested with bays and rosemary.
Well can the green-garbed ranger tell,
How, when, and where, the monster fell;
What dogs before his death he tore,
And all the baiting of the boar.

The wassail round in good brown bowls,
Garnished with ribbon, blithely trowls.
There the huge sirloin reeked: hard by
Plum-porridge stood, and Christmas pie;
Nor failed old Scotland to produce
At such high tide her savoury goose.
Then came the merry masquers in,
And carols roar’d with blithesome din;
If unmelodious was the song,
It was a hearty note, and strong.
Who lists may in their mumming see
Traces of ancient mystery;
White shirts supplied the masquerade,
And smutted cheeks the visor made
But oh! what masquers, richly dight,
Can boast of bosoms half so light!

England was merry England when
Old Christmas brought his sports again.
’Twas Christmas broached the mightiest ale,
’Twas Christmas told the merriest tale;
A Christmas gambol oft would cheer
A poor man’s heart through half the year.
~ Sir Walter Scott
~~~~~~

In the Bleak Midwinter


In the bleak mid-winter
Frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron,
Water like a stone;

Snow had fallen, snow on snow,
Snow on snow,
In the bleak mid-winter
Long ago.



 Our God, Heaven cannot hold Him
Nor earth sustain;
Heaven and earth shall flee away
When He comes to reign:
In the bleak mid-winter
A stable-place sufficed
The Lord God Almighty,
Jesus Christ.

Enough for Him, whom cherubim
Worship night and day,
A breastful of milk
And a mangerful of hay;
Enough for Him, whom angels
Fall down before,
The ox and ass and camel
Which adore.

Angels and archangels
May have gathered there,
Cherubim and seraphim
Thronged the air,
But only His mother
In her maiden bliss,
Worshipped the Beloved
With a kiss.


What can I give Him,
Poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd
I would bring a lamb,
If I were a wise man
I would do my part,
Yet what I can I give Him,
Give my heart.
~ Christina Rossetti

Old-Fashioned Romance from the Bin

I know I'm out-of-step with modern culture in just about every way, especially when it comes to romantic literature. When others were reading romance books with pictures of Fabio on the cover, I woudn't have been caught dead reading those. Yet I promise you I won't be reviewing "Shades of Gray" here on this blog either. My fantasy life is much more simple and old-fashioned. And while others are downloading their books, my idea of a good time is to spend a few hours wandering around a library, a used bookstore, or a charity book sale. Those are the places where a person can find romance novels that aren't run-of-the-mill. These books were never major bestsellers, but might be just the cozy read you return to again and again. So that's what this post is about. These are actually some of my favorite books EVER, so I hope you can find them and enjoy them also. Look around the Goodwill, the Salvation Army, or your local library book sale.



1. The Enchanted by Elizabeth Coatsworth

I found this book on the rack in a drugstore back in the late 1970s, and it still seems miraculous that such a well-crafted story would find its way into the company of ordinary romance novels or mysteries. But there it was, and I finished half of it while waiting for my mother to finish her shopping that day because I couldn't put it down. It's the story of a young man living a rather lonely life in the deep woods of Maine who is befriended by the strange yet whimsical Perdry family. Soon he falls in love and marries one of the daughters, only to discover that his wife has a secret which is part of her "enchantment." I can't say much more without giving up the plot, but you won't be disappointed if you like a little magical realism - or simply magic - in your novels.




2. A Woman in the House by William Barrett

This must have been included in a book club at one time because I often see hardback copies for sale. William Barrett also wrote bestsellers such as The Lilies of the Field, and you'll find some of the same themes in this book - religious faith versus doubt, the relationship between the church and society, and the ways human beings find a sense of belonging. William Barrett was once a Catholic priest himself, so he understood the pull of the devout life, even while trying to balance the down-to-earth side of being human. This story is about displaced people after World War II trying to find their way through the wreckage of Germany. A young Russian Orthodox Monk has followed his elderly mentor to Berlin only to watch him die, and now he must make his way alone. That is, until he meets a young woman outcast in need of his help, whether she wants it or not. Slowly they learn trust each other and they form an alliance which naturally turns to a deeper emotional connection. While it sounds simple, this book doesn't pull punches about human sexuality or the horrors of war. Barrett  also captures the realistic survival skills of hard work and day-to-day life in a simpler simpler place and time. An inspirational story about people and society rising from the ashes.




3. The Two Farms by Mary E. Pearce

I found a well-worn copy of this book at a branch library, then later wanted to check it out again but it had been removed - patrons had loved it to death! I was so sad that my husband tracked down a copy online and bought it for my birthday. And now it's the book I read when I don't know what else to read, and I never get tired of it. Why? Well, Mary E. Pearce is a writer after my own heart - an eye for nature, love of just the right word, and characters with a droll or snarky sense of humor. The story is set in England in the mid-1800s, in a narrow valley with two farms on either side, one green and thriving, one fallen into disrepair. There are also two young men - one the spoiled son of the major landowner, and one an abandoned boy taken in and raised to run the farm. But you shouldn't think this is another Wuthering Heights. Jim Lundy is no Heathcliff, although he does seek revenge when the rich-man's son steals away his girlfriend. He takes a more positive route in making a deal to save the farm across the valley - a rattletrap known as "Godsakes" - but the contract involves marriage to Old Riddler's daughter, Kirren, with dark eyes and a sharp tongue. It's part Pride and Prejudice, and Part "Taming of the Shrew." And Old Riddler the farmer makes me laugh every time I read it. But the best part is watching the three main characters band together to bring the farm back to life again step by step.
If you like this book you can also try Apple Tree Lean Down



4. Conagher: A Novel

The best kept secret about western novels is that they are usually also romances - something macho male readers probably don't want anyone to know. Louis L'Amour liked the ladies and so do his strong-silent-type cowboys. This is one of the best of the genre, the story of widow Evie Teale who struggles to raise her stepchildren alone on the frontier. She deals with her loneliness by writing poems and tying them to tumbleweeds - one of the best literary images in any American novel! Down the dusty trail comes Con Conagher, a chivalrous but tongue-tied cowpoke who fights the urge to settle down with Evie. While there are subplots surrounding cattle rustlers and stagecoach attacks, the heart of the story is the developing love between these two strong characters.
If you like this, I recommend nearly everything else by L'Amour, including his excellent short stories, and you can often find them used or discounted. The excellent movie adaptation of Conagher stars Sam Elliot with his wife Katherine Ross, and was praised by L'Amour himself.