“I do not know which to prefer… The blackbird whistling Or just after.” These lines by poet Wallace Stevens sum up my feelings about holidays in general and today in particular. The feeling of gratitude, the feasting, and the fellowship of Thanksgiving make it one of my favorite holidays. But equally as much, I savor the time when the activity winds down and the guests leave. That is when I quietly reclaim my space. With […]
It has been more than a month since I wrote about choosing a new color for the walls of my sun room. That post, Fifty Shades of Beige, ended with this picture: and the promise: To be continued… Then one thing led to another, until yesterday, nearly six weeks later, the project was finished. I wouldn’t call it a total transformation, but I think it’s a very nice one. So here’s what happened. First, I […]
My father, Carl Dierksen, tried very hard to become a veteran. And I guess he technically would qualify as one, though he never claimed the honor. He was 22 when he and my mother married in 1940. The following year, during World War II, he enlisted in the Army Air Corps, both to serve his country and to pursue his dream of becoming a pilot. Dad reported to a base in Florida, where he had completed […]
No, it’s not Arbor Day. Nor is it Earth Day. But it is definitely a tree-mendous day here at Maples at the Sonatas. It’s a perfect day to hug a tree, as Dave demonstrates. •••••• When I got up this morning and looked out a window, I couldn’t believe what I saw. “OK, who ordered the forest?” I asked my cat. She just stared at me. Of course, it was our builder, Wilcox Communities, who […]
Maples at the Sonatas is located in northern Illinois, just 10 miles from the Wisconsin border. We are right smack at the intersection where Bears territory and Packers territory overlap. If you can picture a Venn diagram, we are at dead center. So it is no surprise that our neighborhood is split in loyalty to the two teams that played last night. Nearly 25 of us met in the neutral territory of our clubhouse to […]
There are several gauges that can be used to measure the growth of our community. The two most obvious are based on simple mathematics. What is the number of homes that have closed? What is the number of residents who call Maples at the Sonatas home? But there is another measure too, a less precise, more symbolic one. And that is the progressive movement of the construction gates. Until last week, there have always been […]
All summer long, a planter full of petunias and vinca vines sat on my patio. It was pretty for months, but as we got deeper into October, the plants grew long and scraggly and unattractive. Then they were nipped by frost. And so, a few days ago, I decided it was time to let them go. I slid the planter away from the outside wall of my home and lifted it to carry over to […]
Home Sweet Abbey 