27 August

In Marjoram park there are two beautiful benches

They sit at the top of a windy path looking out at the wharf,

and over the Atlantic at the Boston skyline

One of them has a dedication plaque on in 

the very old fashioned names of a couple

"their love for each other and the sea"

it is my habit to leave a gift for them....

a heart shaped stone, a seashell from the beach below,

two acorns clinging to a twig

this day I picked a crab apple from the ground under the tree

that grows at the bottom of the park

I left it on their bench and wandered around a bit 

making pictures here and there

when I came back to the bench to sit and enjoy the view I noticed

that a tiny curling oak leaf

had floated down and landed just so next to the apple

almost as if, I too, had been left a gift.

I remember I had a candle scented -apple and oak- once

I am going out later this afternoon to see if I can find another one. 

I think it's by Yankee Candle although I like Village Candle company the best.

When I walked the beach this morning, I needed a sweatshirt over my sundress.

In just a few weeks the school bus will be stopping in front of the house

to pick up the teenagers heading off-island to the high-school in the next town.

Evening settles earlier 

and the wild roses on the beach path are all hips now

bright red and orange

bittersweet is berrying

in the dune grasses

and poison ivy is turning that scarlet color as it winds its way along the roadsides

this is the time of year I wish would move the slowest

every day a week of days....

every evening lingering in the gloaming 

until I can hardly stand it

and turn toward the quilts on my bed