Good morning everyone! Happy Tuesday! Happy new Willard! Specks, you ask, what CAN she mean? MUSICA
Shadows through leafless trees grace our clapboard house as the sun comes up over the harbor on this beautiful spring morning.
Forsythia’s in bloom at the end of our driveway, part of it planted by Mrs. Bowditch (who lived here 1949-1989), her legacy and gift to the neighborhood, and part of it planted by us! Blooming again, as it does every year, thank you very much!
Sometimes, as you know, I find things I have written (or painted), maybe never used, tucked between my books ~ like this ⬇️, which I 
typed at the top of a page, then printed it out, then ended up using as “scrap paper” on which was also a messy list of favorite songs (I write them down as I think of them), for MUSICA. I had just given the list to Judy for Monday Musica on Instagram, read this, and was marveling at how much this paragraph fit my life right NOW … it was undated, and clearly it was summer when I wrote it . . . but as far as I’m concerned, it’s perfect for now . . .
Yes, we made it into a little vase!
Reading that, now I’m DYING to feel the kitchen floor under my bare feet!! Something wonderful to look forward to! And, go ahead, put on a sweater and seek outside, just this once! It’s heaven outside too!
Joe’s been taking down the storm windows, just like everyone else around here, just like we do every year, putting them in the barn . . . a few at a time as the days become warmer . . .
Seek outside, and bring the beauty inside ~ there is such HOPE in it, and your window sills will love it! Forsythia’s not toxic to curious kitties so they can love it too!💛
We have a bumper crop of Cardinals this year . . . here is a female who may have caught sight of me taking her picture from my kitchen window. This year I am determined to see a baby cardinal…Google showed me what they look like so I am better prepared.
She’s a beauty! 
I love the colors of each season, changing them out is part of the celebration. I’ve been going through my house gathering everything that’s yellow or pink . . . redecorating. I’ve had two parties since we last spoke! Reconnected with our friends which is what feeds US!🌸
Little vases and yellow birds . . .
Daffodil, and rabbits in a yellow cup!
My decorating is a testimony to the antique barn, the yard sale, to the slow gathering of little things that make life sweet! Not caring if they are perfect, or if they are valuable, only caring if they want to come home with me.💖 Sort of the way you choose your rescue pets.💖 For the earth (which doesn’t really need more stuff!)! For the seeing eye. For the heart.❤️
I put away all the brown and navy-checked dish towels and got out the yellow and pink.💝
I used jelly beans as table decorations and while we hung around the table after dinner, just talking, being together, slowly but surely, everyone, grazing like bunnies on the lawn, ATE them!🥰 I hadn’t occurred to me, but I will do it on purpose next time!🧡
At the end of my TGIThursday Girlfriends party, everyone took home a little harbinger of spring!💛
Our mornings have turned pink too … I was just outside taking this picture when I was reminded of watching the moon cover the sun yesterday! We weren’t in the path of complete bloto-nation (can’t remember epic phrase used by media, path of oblivion? Something like that, but bloto-nation works), but we had a good view and got our happy little moon-crescent shadows on the driveway and it all reminded me of how much I love to celebrate the moon that belongs to everyone!🌓 MAS MUSICA
I have a file of moon photos, taken from everywhere, from our front porch, rising above the desert from our window on the train, in the English countryside, above ancient gravestones, next to church spires and lighthouses. My own personal moon in Capricorn makes me do it, structure is my name, fascination is my game, and what gives us more structure than the constant, dependable, and beautiful moon that asks nothing of us? 🌠 If you live to be a hundred, you’ll experience about 1,200 wonderful magical full moons in your lifetime. It sounds like a lot, but it’s not really enough.💘
I loved how yesterday was a pure celebration, moms and dads and kids and grandmas and grandpas! We count on the earth, count on the seasons, count on the universe, to keep its promises, to do what they’ve always done . . . and we’re always ready to celebrate ~ the first red leaf in the fall, the first dancing daffodil, the first snowflake, our first tentative step into salt water, every year, all these firsts . . . even the way the shadows change in our houses… keeps our senses alive and ready to make a party of it. 🌸🌸🌸 Yesterday was a really big party ~ not often are we all on the same page like that these days!😲 It was the perfect start to Earth Day! I just LOVE April!🌸
We think of everything being so dependable that we melt down when an earthquake shows up out of nowhere (despite it being very much like an eclipse, only scarier), or a blizzard, where they DO NOT BELONG. But 
the MOON is still so dependable in this constantly changing world, you can plan parties around it!👏 Like we did yesterday! I’ve loved planetariums since my first AWESOME visit to Griffith Park 
Observatory with my 4th grade class . . . the excitement, the sharing of this first look into the heretofore silent unknown, something no one had words yet to express, the lights dimming until it was dark, our chairs leaning back to the dome of stars appearing in a black sky, some of us up on our knees, necks crooked, eyes wide, 
thrilled to see the planets revolving, the constellations appearing, a booming voice saying words we’d never heard, telling us about Pegasus and Zeus, folklore and mythology, ancient Greek and Babylonian traditions that go back to the 18th century BC, BC ~ inconceivable! It didn’t turn me into an astronaut as I was uninterested from the very beginning in leaving the earth for any reason, but it did make me starry-eyed 🤩… and it enlarged my curiosity . . . and it even made me feel forever connected to ancient children!
And every bit of it is all still worth running down to the harbor, one of us practically in her jammies, to take pictures.
What so many people talked about feeling yesterday, staring up at the sky like earthlings have done since the beginning of time, under the shadow of that same old moon, reminded me of what I wrote about after my visit to the planetarium on board the Queen Mary 2 ~ when, like yesterday, we were given lovely insight, a moment to wonder about our place in the universe.💖
It’s one thing to be in a planetarium on land . . .
XXX
But, it’s something else to be in a planetarium while on a ship at sea . . .
. . . where every day was automatically, unavoidably about the vastness, unpredictability, and wonder of ocean and sky, then suddenly, this, a very different perspective, where we became much smaller, not only in this sea and sky, 
but aware that we were connected even by tiniest parts of our world that can’t be seen with the naked eye. I felt the deep beauty of it, the boundlessness, the gift, and the sadness too, welling up. Suddenly, in that planetarium sky on board the ship, we watched our sun, our very own star, disappear into the cosmos ~ and we disappeared with it . . . specks with an outsized entitlement to it all . . . this was the part I didn’t catch in the 4th grade, when I discovered we were so much more than I thought we were, but the part that’s called wisdom that we (hopefully) get as we get older, is the part where we realize we’re so much less than we thought we were.💖 Sometimes feeling like a speck is a good thing.
Put it all together with moments of unity and connection as we experienced yesterday, we say more, more, more! we want more!… is there ever enough, no, I don’t think so! The adventure continues! 🌠🌠🌠 We never stop learning.💖
As for home, a couple of things we have loved streaming that I want to tell you about, the first is The New Look, about the lives of Christian Dior and Coco Chanel after the Germans invaded 
France. SO good! Details of history! You’ll love it. Twelve episodes on Apple+. (Now I’ll be looking for a Granville Rose in Dior’s honor, in his sister’s honor, for our garden!) And the other one is (of course) A Gentleman in Moscow. Set your minds at ease, after only 2 episodes I already know it is doing justice to the magnificent book, which if you haven’t read, run don’t walk and get it ~ (unless you have something against utter charm, then forget it of course)!!!💝
We are still walking the walk every morning, through the leafless woods, 
in the cold sunshine, out to the water, an ear pod in my ear, another in Joe’s, listening to the same book from my phone. Right now we are listening to Tom Lake by Ann Patchett. So far it seems to be a light-hearted story about a family of daughters learning about their mother’s almost-famous life as an actress ~ she is telling the story while they pick sweet cherries on their farm in Michigan . . . it might be a little TOO light-hearted for me, but it’s not over, and Meryl Streep is reading it, so I’m not complaining. It has themes that could almost be her own life she’s reading about. Makes us exercise, we look forward to “reading” so much!
One last thing, for my California girlfriends … I promised I would tell you if there was going to be an “estate” sale for the things we let go when we were there. And there is . . . it’s 
happening on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, April 19-21. It’s not worth buying an airplane ticket (there are no quilts in the sale, and no Beatrix Potter figurines!), so unless you have a penchant for old post cards, or maybe 30 years of collected wine corks (I heard the seller, Mike, is charging 25¢ a piece for them!), or menus from restaurants and ships we have known and loved, this wouldn’t be the place for you… I hardly remember what else is there, but here are a couple of photos I took before I left, the one corner Joe had begun to decorate for Mike… and then the whole room, as far as it was at the time. I have no idea how it will be set up, but the address is 2416 Lopez Drive in Arroyo Grande, CA, if you’re in the neighborhood and want to take a look, go straight down the driveway to the barn on the left.
I hope you have a wonderful day and that all your flowers bloom and each time it rains you can see them grow by inches… I’m having a No Mow April to go with my No Mow May … I loved it last year!
Hello Susan. Wish you wonderful April
You touch my heart and inspire me❣️
Thank you again, Susan for another sweet Willard. I send you my best wishes for a blessed, bountiful, beautiful birthday on Friday.
Thanks for the suggestion of A Gentleman in Moscow. I absolutely loved it! What a marvelous. Easy to read book. His writing just draws you visually into the story. I watched the first 2 episodes on tv last night as well. I love Ewan MacGregor in this role.
Happy Spring! Barbara
He’s perfect! His relationship with that little girl!!!!!!!
Happy April Susan and Happy Birthday on Friday! April 12 is my birthday too and the last one in my 60’s! I’m going yarn shop hopping with my best friend from first grade and we’re having a fun lunch in an old farmhouse turned restaurant. I’m so excited. Hope you have a fun special day too!
Happy Birthday Kim, yours sounds perfect. I’m going with Joe and we’re taking a friend up to Boston for a procedure she needs … one of my oldest friends, so I’ll spend the day with two of my beloveds and wallow in whatever happens to us in the adventure of being off island!!!💝
Oh, Joy! Just opened and read this new Willard. I always need several readings to digest all the thoughts. Lots of them.
This is a Major day for me!! I got my first hearing aids!! They are just wonderful. Not that I’m terribly hard of hearing. Speaking of Being Thankful!!! I’m so very thankful I can have these without having to get a mortgage on the house!! They are $$$, but being able to hear the first Hermit Thrush in our woods in Maine, the owls at night, the Spring peepers, the little fox kits running rings around our house at night…little “Yip, Yips”, the early morning boats on the bay….Can’t wait!!
If I were to inherit Big Money (not likely), I’d set up a fund for people who need, but cannot afford, hearing aids, glasses, dentists, doctors when they need them. I’ll bet there is a place here where one can do that!!!
The lovely audiologist said she’s not in 20 years of practice had a client who was so totally over the Moon about getting these. Laughed all the way to Tom’s favorite cafe where we splurged on big, juicy cheeseburgers. We had the covered patio all to ourselves, water trickling over the rocks, huge carp in the pond, lovely palm trees and a very persistent squirrel. 😉 Been going there for over 40 years. Anyone visiting South Tampa, It’s at the Tahitian Inn on S. Dale Mabry.
Thank you, Sweet Lady, for your thoughtful words. While an eclipse is Awesome, I find the night sky in Maine, especially in Winter, so breathtaking, I find myself teary-eyed. Or maybe in June when there are so many fireflies that they blend together with the stars in points of light.
Mucho Grande Love and Thanks,
Debbie in Tampa
I love your fund idea … they gave the big money to the wrong people didn’t they dear Debbie!😘😘😘
The eclipse was a wonderfully unifying event (didn’t expect that bonus) — and a heavenly reminder of the many fundamental things the inhabitants of our country and world share. Hope the feeling lingers! Thanks for yet another thoughtful read and happy spring ☔️☀️🌷
As we all fall more and more in love with our planet, we’ll all demand more to make the powers that be fix it. 🌸🌸🌸
Hello, what are the hours of the estate sale?
I’m not sure, but I guess maybe 9 to 5 … or 4…
Hello Susan!
Happy April!!! 🌷🏵🌷And an early Happy Birthday!!! 🎈🎂🎈
Your Willard could not have arrived in my In-box at a more perfect moment!!! I am sitting on the upstairs deck of our house, enjoying a beautiful April afternoon! The sky is bluer than blue & not a single cloud in it! The mountains to the west are still gleaming white w/ snow. Birds are chirping & the chickadees & the little yellow finches are flitting around in the ever so tall pine tree. The lilac tree, just below the deck, is leafing out in lovely spring green, a little early yet for buds, but I know they are coming soon.
I can hear my neighbor scritch-scratching out in her garden, and I’m reminded of Farmer McGregor in “The Tale of Peter Rabbit”. The sun is warm and the gentle breeze is cool & fresh. And, yes, as I look around taking it all in, I am truly blessed!
Just last week it was freezing & snowing & gloomy, so my husband & I watched “The Enchanted April”, which is one of my most favorite books & movies! It never fails to lift my spirits and bring me assurance that, no matter what, there are bright & beautiful days just around the corner! And, here I am, reading about yours and experiencing my own!!!
I am so happy that you are happy, dear kindred spirited friend! Enjoy a wonderful Birthday & celebrate YOU!!! We were all blessed the day you were born!!! Thank you for the Joy you bring to this world!!!
Love & hugs to you, Joe & Jack!💞🤗💞
Barbara
p.s. Apologies if I’ve ended up posting this twice.
I haven’t seen Enchanted April in so long … I’m going to hunt for it. I love it too! And the book was perfect! Happy spring Barbara! ❌⭕️
Your parties sound lovely with all the jelly beans and harbingers of spring.
The word you’re looking for is “totality” as 100 other readers probably already told you. But I know because I flew to Texas from California to see it AND family -so it would still be a win if it was cloudy. Well it was a win-win and we saw the diamond ring in the sky!!
Springtime blessings to you & yours, 🐈⬛
Love, Pam
win win! I saw the diamond on TV! So we had a win and a half!🤣
Oh, Susan, what a wonderful, magical Willard! First, I have to say I too love the look of bare tree branches against the house. Dark gray through the pale winter sunshine, to me they are more beautiful than full-leafed summer, but not quite as beautiful as autumn’s golds and reds. I love your garage sale decorating! I have garage sale finds in my home too. So much more interesting and comforting than the standardized beige, white, and gray palate you see in so many homes. Finally, your “Blessings” paragraph really resonated with me. We have so much to be thankful for. Even if you’re having a bad day, you can always open your eyes wide and find a blessing — like tree branch shadows on the house! Tomorrow I go in for knee replacement surgery. I have a long list of things to do while recuperating, not the least of which is re-reading your Martha’s Vineyard book (my favorite). I’ll be watching Turner Classic Movies a lot, too. I’m sure I can find some Cary Grant movies! Thank you for this Willard, and wishing you many blessings in the weeks to come!
Here’s to quick and easy surgery Jill! 👏👏👏👏
This was a wonderful read. I loved reading this. I changed over my house too! Gone are the last glimmers of Winter. The tulips, with pink, yellow and purples appear. White bedspreads, doilies in white. It is so good to read that everything doesn’t need to match and okay that cardinals are flying by the windows. Even okay, when my house shook from the East Coast Earthquake. The center of the quake was only 15 miles away from my home. All is well, the sun came out, after it was “mooned”. Maine is thawing from their latest snowfall. Your blog just makes me feel like, it is okay not to be all sterile and modern, with the decorations of the house. It is a good feeling. Thank you, for your Willard, it made my day.
💛💖💛💝💛💝
Lovely as ever,I lost sight in right eye and have surgery on Thursday. So,now I’m doing no mow April and May as well.You make my day with your blogs and Willards.I look forward to them.Mary in Gloucester, Virginia
Take care Mary😢 … wishing you all the best. 🙏🙏🙏🙏💖
Wishing you a happy birthday, Susan! Friday is my birthday too, plus dear Gladys Tabor. I feel so lucky to share the day with you two! XO 🌸🌺🌼🌺🌸
Happy Birthday to all us girls!!!💖
Thank you for another delightful Willard!
Beth Barnat
Hello again. It has been a long time since I have written. I have spent the last two years in hospital and skilled nursing, recovering from I still am not certain what, but whatever it was came on remarkably fast and killed me! I was brought back to life by grace and the local Fire & Rescue squad, right there in our driveway late one night in May of 2022. I woke up in what my mind decided was a banana warehouse full of small women who did not speak much. I thought I had been kidnapped! I told my captors that my family did no ways have sufficient funds to ransom me, but they weren’t interested. Every few days, a tall, thin, sharp-nosed woman in a white coat would come and bend over me and say that I was not eating and if I did not eat they would put a tube in me! This went on, I am told by my beloved spouse, for several weeks until my mind began to recognize things like blood pressure cuffs and IVs and the sort of monitors one has when all heck has broken loose in just about every part of you. It didn’t help, I know now, that the hospital where I was was still in the throes of the COVID-19 Pandemic, over-full and understaffed and that none of my symptoms had anything to do with the disease-of-the-decade. My kidneys were shutting down, my heart kept slowing down and setting off alarms, and, no matter how hard my brain commanded my muscles, they would not do even the simplest things like sit or roll or pick up a spoon. But “in sickness and in health” I had vowed, and since my husband had bravely faced cancer, I could not give up. My kidneys were saved by a brilliant Nephrologist and his team after giving me the experience of dialysis for many weeks, and I am the proud owner of a
tiny pacemaker thanks to a pair of fine Cardiologists and their team. I had so many care givers and therapists that helped me move again and even walk again, and my beloved of 41 years brought me home in October, so we could celebrate under our own roof.
And our home is why I am writing today. After two years, imagine what your yard, if left untended, unmown, unpruned look like in the spring. Now, imagine all of that overgrown with ivy and blackberry vines. I didn’t believe it until I saw some pictures of our home online, on one of those sites that shows every house everywhere! I could easily imagine it was the set for a movie involving ogres, hags and orcs! And I cringed to think of what all of my very nice neighbors, who knew my Husband was splitting his days between work and my bedside, thought of such as sight in the middle of our otherwise tidy and charming street.
It is spring. and in spring, the postman delivers flyers for every yard service and landscaping business that exists as soon as the groundhog sees it’s shadow. Armed with a stack of offers of “free estimates” and my trusty cell phone, I started on a plan to say “Thank You!” to everyone for watching the house when it was empty all day, and for checking in when husband was picking up the mail to see how I was doing.
As I write, the air outside is full of whirring and chipping and mowing and raking. We may have to figure out how to have the house pressure washed after the vines are gone, and the windows washed, but that is for another day.
Today, a thank you to my neighbors. And to my sweetheart, who won’t have to worry about mowing the lawn this week,
I hope everyone has as much to be thankful for as I do, Thank you, Susan, for always sending out a ray of sunshine, even when the sun is nowhere to be seen!
Jennie! That was a SAGA!!! With a wonderful ending! Humans are so interesting . . . we can do ANYTHING!🤣😘😘😘
Hello, just want to drop a Thank 😊 you note for you. To tell you how much I look forward to your newsletter. What a joy to read. I also signed up to receive the Gladys Taber quarterly newsletter. I am a fan of all Gladys Taber. I even have a few books. Looking forward to your next newsletter.
This was beautiful…. we so need this right now! Thank you dear Susan
Susan, I also share your affinity for the moon! Ever since I was a girl I’ve been enamored with the stars and night sky. I live in Indiana and was able to travel to the totality zone for the eclipse yesterday. It was stunning! I have a happy wooden man-in-the-moon on my mantel in my family room, which I like to call my ‘moon room’ since all the art prints have a moon hidden in them somewhere.
Stick with Tom Lake, it is light-hearted, but there are some darker points coming up.
On a side note, how do you maintain white couches??!! Do tell your secret!
I fell completely in love with Tom Lake on today’s walk. I knew I would, was just waiting for it. White couches, I can only attribute it to this good cleaning stuff they gave me (which I’ve rarely had to use), but probably even more, to not having children! But you should see it up close. Corners ragged from clawing of kitties! Pre-Jack! He’s the good boy. We got him a clawing post when he was a baby and he uses it!
Tom Lake is wonderful. Set during COVID so only the family is available to breastfeed g in the cherry crop. The daughters can’t believe their mom had an acting career and gave it up for a cherry orchard just north and Traverse City. It’s a light-hearted read during a year of a lot of darker published books.
Ohhh, I get that, don’t we all need it still…. xoxoxo
Seeing your cardinals and reading your comment reminded me of one springtime long ago, probably about 1953 or so, when my friend Sherry and I discovered a cardinal’s nest in a low bush in the woods. When we first saw it there were eggs in the nest and the mamma was sitting on them. Somehow, she allowed us to watch her from time to time without getting too upset, and one wonderful day there were no longer eggs in the nest, but four tiny birds. We continued to visit them, at a discrete distance, until the babies were ready to fly off on their own. I haven’t thought about this long-ago adventure in ages. I’m not even sure that Sherry and I told anyone else about it at the time, but it is a wonderful childhood memory. Thank you for bringing it all back to me. XOXO!
Doesn’t that make you feel like you’re permanently lucky? ❌⭕️❌
🌷 Happy April, Susan. 🌹 Your birthday month! So happy birthday a bit early. 🎂🍷
I love the music you chose in this Willard and I love your contagious joy.Thank you.
I am glad you are home enjoying this Spring. I also love seeing everything bloom this time of year. Some plants and bushes I planted 4 years ago are flourishing and blooming beautifully now. My roses are up. Trees are leafing, Birds are busy. Yay Spring!
I loved the musica too Peggy, so happy you noticed!!! Thank you for your friendship and for everything.💝💝💝
I think this is the very best post you have ever written. We are so tiny in a very huge universe. Ever wonder who placed that sun at just the right distance that we don’t freeze to death or burn up? It was all planned and created, just for us and we have such a short time to enjoy it. But there are far better things waiting if you know the right man and his initials are J.C. Happy Spring, Susan. God bless you and Joe on your life journeys.
How about our NOSES … the perfect place to put our GLASSES??? It’s all just too much!💖💖💖💖
I feel like I got a gift every time I receive your Willard. I drove 300 miles to southern Missouri to see the eclipse. It took me 7.5 hours to make the 5 hour trip home because of all the traffic! But those 4 minutes were so worth it! AND I was so surprised to hear you are reading Tom Lake. I finished it last week and recommended it to my book club who picked it for our next meeting. There are surprises coming up in the book!
That’s exactly what I think. I think Duke IS Emily’s dad. 😲😳 Probably wrong….
I’m feeling blessed for life, health, family, friends, purpose and mostly recently an upcoming gift from our son – a trip to Martha’s Vineyard at the end of this month! It was to be our 50th wedding anniversary trip (2018) from our son, but COVID and subsequent health issues had a part in postponing the trip. We are so excited! If you see two people standing outside and trying to get a glimpse of you and Joe, please don’t have us arrested. I have enjoyed your blog for years and dreamed of visiting the Vineyard. Your books, including Distilled Genius, line a shelf on my bookcase. We are looking forward to exploring the Vineyard and places you have written about in your blogs. Loved this latest Willard!
Oh I’m so happy you are finally able to come Ann! I hope you love it!🌸💖🌸💖🌸💖
Just a great big THANK YOU for all the lovely descriptions and thoughts. Made my evening!
Thanks, Susan, for another wonderful post. After a difficult day at work, this is just what I needed. We had cloudy skies here yesterday, so were unable to see even a sliver of the moon crossing the sun, but we loved the eclipse in 2017. I loved seeing the news reports of the crowds enjoying the eclipse. I, too, have done some redecorating for spring, and love the fresh look. The gardens are coming alive and there is work to be done to update them, too. Your forsythia reminds me of my grandmother, who loved them in her garden. Thank you for brightening my day.
A-lo-ha-ha … dear Susan🌸 Seeing those pink hydrangeas make my heart sings … April’s full of diamonds for us: birthdays, memorials and Spring flowers 🌸 ♥️🌸 Xo Evie
I love your photos of the forsythia. They remind me of springs growing up in Virginia—so pretty and cheerful! I remember my mother bringing in branches with fat buds, placing them in a tall vase, and watching them slowly open.
Isn’t that so special, forcing blooms for an early spring . . . 👏
Oh poop, that little vase is sold out.
It always happens too fast.
What a wonderful, magical Willard! I too love the look of tree branch shadows against the house. Dark gray through the pale winter sunshine, they are more beautiful than summer’s full-leafed splendor, but not quite as beautiful as the glory of autumn’s red and gold. I love your garage sale decorating! How much more comforting it is than the gray, beige, and white that adorns so many homes. Your “Blessings” paragraph was so consoling and a reminder of how many little blessings there are in every life. Even if you can’t find anything right away, if you open your eyes wide you will — even if it’s just tree branch shadows against the house!
That whole grey thing in decorating I think started in England. Because I began noticing it when we traveled there a few years ago ~ and I thought, in a country that has so many grey skies, why on EARTH would they paint their pub walls gray??? Then it came over here. And I realized there is no good weather for grey!🤣
Beautiful, thought provoking blog. We are all so blessed and should be so grateful for what we have! This Friday is a very special day for you and my daughter! Happy Birthday to you and my Kelly! I hope you have several surprises, wonderful moments and lots of cake! Happy Spring to you!
I already feel so loved💛, I couldn’t hardly ask for anything more. Thank you Sandi and tell Kelly I said HAPPY BIRTHDAY!🥳🥳🥳
Tom Lake is an excellent read, IMHO. I would not describe it as totally light hearted but you will discover that on your own. Love Anne Patchett!
Another wonderful Willard! Thank you for your quotes, photos and an insight to your world. 🥰🥰🥰
Joan in Richmond, VA
So funny because it was on our walk today that I finally fell TOTALLY IN LOVE with Tom Lake … to the point that when we got out to the water, we just stopped there and hugged while it was playing in our ears. It’s beautiful, touching, wonderfully read, and beautifully written.
Dear Susan, you are soooooo good at reminding us, in the most beautiful words, of the essence of life! Thank you, Girlfriend.
Thank you right back!
I wanted Spring babies. One of the two is. Eric was born on April 27th. He always called himself “Nature Boy”. Earth 🌎 Day is before his birthday and we cleaned up the neighborhood. Arnie and I like Arbor Day too! 🌲🌳🌴
I left you two comments on your last blog post. One was for your Happy Birthday 🎂
Hugs 🤗,
Margot B.
❌⭕️💘❌⭕️
Lovely words as always, Susan! Yellow is certainly the April color around here. I have that same Fiesta yellow pitcher, that I like to use as a vase. I’ll take it out today and fill it with forsythia, or as I like to call it, “Spring’s Yellow Telegram”!
💛💛💛💛💛
Oh what a wonderful Willard. I save them all but this one just sang to my heart. I felt your joy Susan!!! Yes…we all need to count our blessings and be positive….the half full glass!! I live in Southern Oregon and I love each season. People that move here and some that grew up here don’t like the overcast days but I love every day here and they don’t bother me. When I was young I spent every day I could riding bareback with my friends on my horse Echo. Come rain or come shine. In the spring I loved the flowers and green grass and in fall I loved the crunchy leaves. It was all glorious!!! Thank you for your uplifting letter!!!❤️❤️❤️❤️
Picturing a young girl on a horse named Echo . . .👏👏👏
ABUNDANCE! You remind us with every post. Thank you, Susan for sharing the Joy, Wisdom and the Beauty! I imagine that the island herself is grateful to have you HOME.
You brighten my day! xo Clare
The “Springiness” of your post is so uplifting, Susan! Like you and the many many girlfriends, I savor the beauty of nature especially now. 🌷🌷🌷Enjoyed Willard as always, thank you!💗
As usual, I truly enjoyed your Willard! All the gorgeous flowers! Made me happy on a rainy, dark day in Arkansas. Loved your comments about the eclipse. Several towns in Arkansas were in the totality zone. (my town was on the edge but still a moving experience! A Gentleman in Moscow was such a wonderful book! I’m also now watching the movie version. Thanks for recommending really good books.
Being an 83-year-old astronomy buff, the 2024 total solar eclipse was going to be a special event for me. I had my list of things I didn’t want to miss, like the Diamond Ring, Baily’s Beads, the Corona and the crescent-shaped sunlight on the ground. After the 2017 eclipse, you showed photos on your blog of the crescents on the ground. I was so disappointed that I hadn’t known about them and had missed seeing them. This time I was ready. The people in my condo building had a Solar Eclipse Party. We had a total eclipse here in Ohio. I had everyone on the lookout for the crescents, and we found two areas, each about a yard square, filled with crescents. Everyone was so excited to see them.
We were to bring a snack. I made your Zucchini Bread recipe and cut it into finger-food-snack-size pieces. When I offered someone a piece, I waited for them to take their first bite. Everyone said the same thing, “Oh, that’s good!” and wanted the recipe. Your recipe is the best.
Just wanted you to know how your photos and recipes are enriching peoples’ lives. Thank you so much.
It’s you Darlene. 💖💖💖💖😘
Dear Susan,
This is a beautiful Willard🌼🎵 Thank you for sharing this with everyone🥰
Thank you for such beautiful words pertaining to the solar eclipse experience! You hit every note perfectly, all the feelings. My first REAL eclipse 73 years old and we got “TOTALITY” here in our northeastern part of Texas. It was an experience I will always remember. Both my children and their children, total of 8 grandchildren and one great grandchild got to experience the eclipse although we are not all in the same part of Texas. (250 miles apart) That was a total miracle! That we all saw it within a few minutes of each other🌞🌓🌑❤️ It was a very exciting experience for millions of people. We will all be talking about it for a long time. Our amazing universe! 🎶🎶total eclipse of the sun!
Susan, thank you yet again for a wonder-full post. My father used to speak of “man’s inhumanity to man” and there is plenty of that around these days.
However, the eclipse filled me with joy. It was only partial in Tucson, but still amazing, peaceful, quiet, cool and much more than I’d expected (75%). We were sad to miss the totality at home in Vermont but my daughter kept sending me texts, photos, and a video so I felt connected. I got great special glasses at the UofA Planetarium which allowed me to enjoy the whole experience. There are some cactus flowers here, but I’m really looking forward to spring flowers and blossom at home. Thank you for being you and for showing us so much beauty!
Always good to hear from you, Susan. Spring is the loveliest of seasons……I think………!
(And will until summer shows her beautiful face!)
Oh My goodness this was a masterpiece!!! I feel so warm and fuzzy!! What fun I put colored dishes of jelly beans all around!! Ive been feeling just stuck! Out came the all the bright and pastel everything!! Spring has indeed arrived!!! I love it that I have that same yellow and white tassled towel as you! this weekend in honor of our 43rd anniversary we are planting forsythia, wisteria, hydrangea….and a mock orange!!!! and yes we went to Southern Missouri to see the total eclipse. You took me back to the days went we could to the St Louis Science Center and Planetarium. Besides the night skies they had a laser light show to music. God Bless you and Joe richly!!!
You are planting all the gorgeous things! We have a large mock orange here, another gift from Mrs. Bowditch… blooms every year and looks exactly like a giant wedding bouquet!!! 🌸🌸🌸🌸
I love how you described your home because that is how I feel about the treasures I find to bring home. 😊
🌸🌸🌸
I am always so excited when I see a new Willard has been posted. The Granville Rose is beautiful. I am going to be on the lookout for one to add to my garden. Last year I added the “Queen Elizabeth” rose, and this year I have ordered the “Julia Child” rose. I wish you and Joe a very Happy Spring.
P.S. It was so wonderful to see everyone so excited, happy and united over the Solar Eclipse. Such a wonderful feeling!
Oooo, Love Queen Elizabeth! If you don’t have a Just Joey Rose … do what you have to do to get one!!! Such a wonderful rose, fragrance, prolific, healthy, long-lived, GORGEOUS peach color!!
Thank you for this!! What a Wonderful read!!! I sure needed a pick me up! This was it!! I am recovering from a stroke last year and have done well but for some reason having hard days lately! I have followed you for years. I have your beautiful books! Thank you for brightening my day!! Much Love!! By the way my daughter is Susan so her maiden name was the same as yours!! Pardon errors if I have some typing is a challenge!
I remember my mom telling me she was having a good day … as opposed to a bad day … so now I think we get good days and bad days all at the same time. Must be time for a good day for you!! ❌⭕️❌⭕️
The eclipse was amazing here in Maryland. BTW, did you see that they are changing the image on the UK bank note from Queen Elizabeth to King Charles? I think it was June 7 that they will be released. Early June at least. I love all your yellow and pink. Yellow is the color I most associate with April. Because of forsythia and daffodils I think. I got a new perennial last year. Brunnera. It’s a leafy plant with delicate blue flowers. It will spread out and multiply. And I wish I could post a picture here. With the warm weather the past few days it is really thriving. I think you would love it in your garden. Keep an eye out at the garden center.
We have a perfect place for your Brunnera … I looked it up! Thank you!💘
I learned that some of the stars we see in the heavens now actually died hundreds, maybe thousands of years ago (not light years) and the light from those dying stars is just now reaching us. I also learned a mystery. The detritus from those exploding, dying stars actually enters our atmosphere and gently settles into the very air we breathe, onto the food we eat and into the water we drink . . . and that very literally makes us made of star stuff. STAR STUFF! I love thinking that all that star stuff is what makes me twinkle and sparkle inside. That I am quite wonderfully made of stars. I knew you would love this.
We are made of stars! Didn’t you just KNOW that when you were six years old and looking at the night sky? It’s why those short people should rule the world. They cry if a tree gets cut down. I remember screaming at my ex from inside the house when looking out the window, I saw he was cutting a limb off a tree. He couldn’t hear me because of the noise of the saw, and I burst into tears from the frustration of not being able to stop him in time. He tried to convince me it was good for the tree, and maybe so . . . but I will never forget that moment.💖
i knew an awful lot when i was six. probably more than i do now and i definitely believed in magic. lots of magic and faeries and stars and wishes. we need to become like little children again. and i still cry when a tree gets cut down. we live in washington state and there are acres of trees that get cut down and the entire hillsides look like someone gave them a bad haircut. but they do replant. they have that in their favor.
Awwww, I know JUST how you feel. What we know when we are six is the difference between right and wrong. If we can hold onto that, I think we can take over the world!💘
Thank you for the lovely post (as always). I have been unable to shake the thought of something you mentioned in the previous Willard (or maybe the one before). You had the difficult task of sorting through things that were a part of your life for such very long time–at your place in California. I felt such empathy for you. I understand that it is very emotional to part with items that are connected to our past. I never under stand how some people say that we should get rid of our “stuff” and that it is a burden. Sorry, I digress, (as I do). Anyway, here is the magical thing you said regarding throwing away things from our past: …”it is like killing history.” THAT really resonated with me. Your statement was very moving, and I have thought of it often. You are so right. It does feel that way! I believe we should not listen to others who may pressure us to purge. I think you, and only you, can make that decision. To that end, I am glad you have not put your house on the market yet. You listened to your soul and will wait until (if) the time is right. Thanks so much for sharing.
YUP! Totally agree! What we all need is our very own personal museum!
A Willard always brightens my day! Spring is finally coming to our area with my daffodils almost in bloom. My forsythia blooms some years and not others. I believe it is related to how intense our winters are. This may be one of those years when I give it a very serious pruning later in the spring. I used to think of forsythia as weeds, but I have come to appreciate their vibrant color as a sign that winter has ended.
This issue of Willard is blossoming with gratitude, SPRING, and so MUCH MORE. I will be revisiting it to take in all in. I will jot down good reads and good “views”. Thank you for these monthly and often more than monthly visits. They overflow with JOY and INSPIRATION!!! Blessings, Mary from Albuquerque
Love hearing from you Mary!!! I loved the lips card you made, still laughing at that card!👏👏👏👏
Dearest Birthday Girl,
This is a wonderful post. Thank you for this one and all the other posts throughout the year. They have been my mainstay for all that is good and true and that has been desperately needed. You NEVER fail to bring it with your posts, tweets, instagram and everything else.
Please go to V.H. Nurs. there is a gift card waiting for you. I love celebrating you, your gorgeous, authentic, unique and lovely lady!! Ask for Laura. (Maybe a spring blooming tree?)
Love you!
You are very Sassy Miss C. 💝 💃🏼💃🏼💃🏼💃🏼 Thank you for sweetest you.💖
Imagine if you could have celebrated Mark Twain’s birthday while he was alive! You know you would have. Well, that is what I get to do with you!!
P.S. They don’t have foxgloves, yet.
Yer killin’ me!🤣🧡🧡🧡🧡 Can’t wait to get there, probably not until Saturday!
Dear Susan: Haven’t posted a reply for awhile—your Willard came at a perfect time—-I was going thru and getting rid of a gazillion E-mails, and such negative news stories that I was just passing by and there was your “Willard” and your lovely comments you had typed and shared with us—–I was feeling exactly like what you wrote! Blessed for floors, ice, warm home, nice clothes, flowers growing in the mini-greenhouse—–just feeling BLESSED! Thank you for the Willard and your thoughts! Brightened up my day! It’s a beautiful April day here and my hubby who has had a rough 2 months because of health issues is doing well and so yes, Blessings this April Day! Hugs to you, Joe and Jack!
💝💝💝
Susan, I am so grateful for you. You always make me so happy. I have started a reply to you for both of your last two blog entries, and never finished them so decided to not send them. I just never know how to express myself properly. You are such a great writer, really! It’s intimidating!
I just want you to know that I always read and thoroughly enjoy your posts. They are so uplifting.
I was sorry to see that you are in the process of selling your Arroyo Grande property! It makes me sad to know that you have one less pull in this direction. I know that you still have family in California, but owning your own home here has I’m sure made things easy and comfortable when you come to stay. You know as long as we still own our Seal Beach home you and Joe are always welcome to stay there! We might not have it for the long run, but for now we’re holding onto it.
I’ve been going through some changes in my life and it’s so nice having you to “turn to” every time you send a Willard. It really helps take me away from my troubles for a while. I have been diagnosed with neuropathy in my legs and feet. It has been quite challenging for the past year or so, and although it is not curable, I’ve got good doctors that have really helped me manage it. Michael has been diagnosed with early Alzheimer’s Disease also, so we are meeting that challenge together. We have many good friends and family that love and understand him so we are not alone in this debilitating, sad disease.
Thank you, Susan for always putting a smile on my face. It has always meant so much to me to be included as one of your many “Girlfriends”. XOXO, Carol
Carol! I’m just an old letter writer! But thank you. For a person who wondered forever if she could be a writer, I’ve decided to believe my friends, and know now that I AM a writer. Communicating with words is a wonderful challenge, to say what you mean, to have enough empathy to feel the person/people you are writing to … it’s not always easy because it doesn’t matter if I understand it, it’s if I can say it right, so others do! And, oh dear, I’m so sorry to hear about your health challenges ~ what, as they say in the vernacular, A DRAG.😢 These little (and big) bites being taken out of our health, it’s not fun. But then there are the whole OTHER parts of our lives, still filled with joy … you are so good about staying with the joy parts … your words mean the world to me, never ever be intimidated, you are beautifully expressive. ❌⭕️
I’ve always loved a bright moon, but you’ve added a layer of appreciation for me with your bookmarks that taught me, along with my kids, the names of each full moon. Also, I love your yellow and pink spring theme.
Nature is endlessly fascinating don’t you think? The BEST thing we have! Where peace and goodness resides!
I so agree – we have so much to be thankful for that we sometimes take for granted. Love your thoughts, your pretty table-settings and spring decorating, the forsythia at the end of the driveway, your joyous zest for life. I hope that you get to see that baby cardinal this year. xo K
Thank you Karen!!!
Yellow and pink….love that combinations of colors! Yes, thanks to you, us girlfriends got to cross the Atlantic together!
We did! I revisit the memory regularly!!!
Lovely to read. Wondering if you will get more of the circular “Find heaven within” vase ?
Daffodils and hyacinths blooming in Upton MA. I adore being outside as well. Love the jelly bean idea on the table.
Karen
Kellee is trying for the vases . . . xoxo
Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday Susan to one of my most favorite human beings🌼…I feel soooo lucky to be sharing Earth with you🌼…sending lots of love for a lovely day🌼…PS another wonderful Willard🌼!
Happy Birthday!