Happy Birthday J.R.R

Posted on January 3, 2026 by Mary Beth Frezon

And may hope stay with us in the new year:

…the night-sky was still dim and pale. There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach. His song in the Tower had been defiance rather than hope; for then he was thinking of himself. Now, for a moment, his own fate, and even his master’s, ceased to trouble him. He crawled back into the brambles and laid himself by Frodo’s side, and putting away all fear he cast himself into a deep untroubled sleep.

~~J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King, Book II, The Land of Shadow.

clouds

Posted in Lotr, reads, what I'm listening to, words | 1 Comment

September 11 – We Remember

Posted on September 11, 2025 by Mary Beth Frezon

Today was a beautiful September day. Brilliant sunlight in a cool, blue-sky morning. Just like the morning of September 11 2001, when the world changed.

Now it’s been 24 years and we still gather to remember, still remember in the little moments of the day. How today was like that day that was so different from other days. A day we remember in fine detail: where we were, what we were doing, who we were with, what we had planned, what happened to those plans.

We remember the day and the people we knew and those we didn’t, who died due to hate and anger.

It’s 24 years later and we don’t have that before life of never imagining such a thing could happen. We can only work towards a world that won’t do it again. We can only remember their names.

There’s more that we could never imagine happening going on, and this year’s September 11 remembrances may seem to be fading in a world that seems more and more violent and dystopic. Yesterday an assassination of a political person seems to have equal numbers of fingers pointing at both sides. But violence is never the answer. We must remain committed to our belief that freedom can be held by many, even though they don’t always agree on everything. We can agree enough. And we can agree and disagree peacefully.

As I do every year, I pause to remember the day, the two I knew, the thousands I didn’t, and all of us left behind in a different world.

REMEMBER

911, quilt by Mary Beth Frezon, 2001. Photo by Pearl Yee Wong of the Michigan State University Museum
Posted in family and friends, In the neighborhood, life around us, Poetry and Lyrics, quilting, Ripped from the headlines, Sept. 11 | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

NaPoWriMo 2025 Day 22

Posted on April 22, 2025 by Mary Beth Frezon

Beautiful day and I’ve done a couple walk arounds. Looking at the garden that others have planted: is that a weed? is that a plant? a volunteer? Resisting the urge to start weeding this time of year is hard, but the best way to get self-seeding and perennials the chance they need to pop above the ground where you can see them!

I cannot show you
how the lawn is suddenly
green suddenly green

I only know that
the act of sitting still
is a great teacher

has the date of
last expected frost gone by
waiting one more week

the nervous hostas
barely poked up pointy shoots
they fear being snacks

photo: landscape with bright green grass in foreground, some outbuildings in the middle and trees brushing a bright blue sunlit sky.

empty skeleton of a spider hangs on some leftover webbing on the house. illuminated by late afternoon light.

Posted in 418 Petersburg, Do the Work, gardens and flowers, haiku, In the neighborhood, landscape, life around us, NaPoWriMo, Poetry and Lyrics, taking time to look, the creative process, weather | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

NaPoWriMo 2025 Day 18

Posted on April 18, 2025 by Mary Beth Frezon

ooof. Last night I was about entering into sleep when I heard, off towards the front yard, a thump. Hmmmmm. I checked my camera-bird-feeder and sure enough – there was a skinny bear hanging onto the feeder and snuffling-slurping up all the sunflower seeds. Just a late night snack, right?

Last night the bear came
a thump across the yard told
me to look outside

The camera caught
his long nose and he needs a
manicure badly

two feeders down
one needing a bit of repair
Please sir, dine elsewhere

Two links to videos from camera, that will open separately.

bear1_2025b

bear1_2025a

Bird-cam photo: big bear looks off to the left while gobbling food from a bird feeder

Birdfeeder cam photo: Black bear looks left while resting a massive paw on the edge of a bird feeder.

Posted in Do the Work, haiku, In the neighborhood, life around us, NaPoWriMo, Poetry and Lyrics, taking time to look, the creative process | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

NaPoWriMo 2025 Day 17

Posted on April 17, 2025 by Mary Beth Frezon

It must be haiku day, right? I tried to convince myself it was warm enough to sit outside and folks, I’m here to tell you otherwise!

sitting outside while
The wind scuffs up my coffee
And I shiver

pretending it’s spring
but what happened – me and
my coffee got cold

tree tops swelling
pounding against the sky with
red and gold and green

covered truck goes by
several times a day each way
filled with barking dogs

Photo: regal looking black cat lying on blue tablecloth with one leg extended over the edge of the table. His head, to the right, is turned away from the camera as he considers visitors to the bird feeders outside. This is Frankie, big man of the house.

Photo: a black cat standing, head to the left of the image, appearing to sniff the floor. The sunlight coming through a paned window to the left out of view, makes a criss-cross pattern on his back and the floor

Photo: a black cat crouches on a windowsill, head toward the center and next to a leafy plant (oxalis). Above, a flat duck and a metal teapot ornament sit on the window's central ledge. Beyond, a bright morning sunlight.

Photo: three cats eating in triangular formation on a wooden floor, with wood wainscoting. Along the wall are two cats with a beige water dish in-between them. One cat is in the foreground, back to the camera. The holy trinity of black cats.

From the quote box:

I believe that man will not merely endure: he will prevail. He is immortal, not because he alone among creatures has an inexhaustible voice, but because he has a soul, a spirit capable of compassion and sacrifice and endurance. The poet’s, the writer’s duty is to write about these things. … The poet’s voice need not merely be the record of man, it can be one of the props, the pillars to help him endure and prevail.

— William Faulkner, Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech

Posted in cats helpful cats, Do the Work, From the Quote Box, haiku, In the neighborhood, kittens, NaPoWriMo, Poetry and Lyrics, taking time to look, weather | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment