Wearin’ of the Green
It’s almost here! Paddy O’Bear, along with his wild Irish rose, wishes you an early Happy St. Patrick’s Day.
All posts tagged: Maples at the Sonatas
Fat Tuesday Fun
Mardi Gras. Laissez les bon temps rouler! Let the good times roll, indeed. Mardi Gras, as you probably know, is French for Fat Tuesday. And that is the day to observe the tradition of eating rich, fatty foods the last night before the fasting of the Lenten season, which begins today on Ash Wednesday. Here at Maples at the Sonatas, we have another tradition—that of turning minor holidays into major celebrations. So it was that a couple […]
The Winter of Our Discontent
That phrase has been stuck in my mind for a while now. The January-type weather that began tormenting us in November appears ready to last into March. Endless snow events and eternally frigid temperatures have tag-teamed us for far too long. It gets downright depressing when there’s no end in sight. Nowadays we talk about cabin fever and seasonal affective disorder. But Shakespeare said it better when he opened Richard III with these words: “Now […]
Off to Columbus—I Hope
This is the title slide of a presentation I’ll be making at the Wilcox Communities National Conference in Columbus, Ohio, on Tuesday. Proud, honored, scared. This is how I’m feeling as I finish practicing my remarks and begin packing my suitcase. Oh, and as I keep checking the weather. We are under a snow advisory tomorrow. Yes, another one. Just before Christmas, Ember, who is executive assistant to Jamie Wilcox, called and asked if I […]
Heaps of Snow
Anyone want some free snow? We have more than enough, thank you! After getting over 60 inches this winter, we have run out of room to stack it. So our snow removal company, Langton, is “relocating” it today. It’s time to call in the heavy equipment, much to the delight of Shirley’s little granddaughters who have a closeup view of the operation.
Beyond the Writing
When I began writing Home Sweet Abbey a year ago, I had a lot to learn about blogging. A half-day workshop I had taken a few months earlier had hit the high points. But there was so much left to learn that I kept studying to try to improve my craft. And I’m still doing that. One of the first things I learned is that a well-written article is not necessarily enough to attract readers. […]
A Year Flies By…
A year ago tomorrow, on February 9, 2013, I took a deep breath, and another, crossed my fingers and toes, and then clicked on the Publish button that launched this blog. Home Sweet Abbey went live with my first post, My Journey Home, and a short About the Author article. I had drafts of two more posts ready to go and a list of perhaps 7 or 8 ideas to draw on beyond that. I […]
Our Antidote to Cabin Fever
It’s a new month today, but it’s the same old weather. More snow falling. Another cold, sun-deprived day. Slippery surfaces waiting to trick you into falling. Yes, the winter that began in November — even before the first official day of winter — shows no signs of letting up on us. Most of our days are still the hunkering-down kind that I’ve already described in two posts on this blog. And yet— Our neighborhood is […]
Why Woodstock?
I moved to Woodstock, IL, in 1970, at age 23, for a good reason. I had landed my first adult job, as an English teacher at Woodstock High School. Woodstock was, at the time, a town of 10,000 people. Located 10 miles south of the Wisconsin border, it was — and I guess to some degree still is — more rural than suburban. We are the second to the last stop on the northwestern commuter […]
Neighbors, Friends, Family
I ended a recent post with this phrase: my neighbors, who also happen to be my friends. That statement remains true, even more so. In the past few days, I’ve learned that my neighbors are also my family. Here’s how that happened. A friend and I stepped out of a movie theater Friday afternoon into a hard, driving rain. But there was no noticeable ice, and the forecast had been for temperatures to rise. Three […]
The Fine Art of Hunkering Down
By now, you may have seen this morning’s ugly numbers in Woodstock, IL: temperature -18 wind chill -43 Today we have no school, no public library, no garbage pickup, no shopping in my favorite stores. And at Maples at the Sonatas: no Wilcox staff, no construction workers, no potential buyers. Almost no people or vehicles to be seen outside. I’ve lost track of how much snow we have on the ground because it has fallen […]
Merry Christmas
… from Home Sweet Abbey in snowy Woodstock, IL.
Dickens Carollers Share Seasonal Joy
The Christmas spirit descended on our community yesterday in a most delightful way. Forty-five Maples at the Sonatas neighbors had gathered in our clubhouse by 2 pm, when the Dickens Carollers arrived to perform a concert of Christmas songs. This is just part of the audience before the music began. The Dickens Carollers is a professional group from the Woodstock area that has been performing since 1982. I have enjoyed their music many times and […]
The New Resident at Home Sweet Abbey
Ten days ago, I brought a new member into the family living in my Abbey. Her name is Shadow, and she is Mom’s cat. For three weeks after Mom had a stroke, Shadow continued living in the assisted living apartment they shared. I stopped by twice a day to take care of her and spend some time. A friend of ours also visited daily. But when I learned that Mom would not be able to […]
Thanksgiving Night
“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 […]
Sun Room Results
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 […]
Remembering My Dad, A Would-be Veteran
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 […]
A Tree-huggin’ Kinda Day
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 […]
Bears-Packers–Oh, My!
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 […]
The Gates
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 […]
Home Sweet Abbey 