Jarvis Coffin Independent, Inching Forward Soon you have the sense you are talking about the same things, which is when it hits you . . . you have only inched forward.
Jarvis Coffin Tractor Pull I interview everyone with a tractor and they say the same thing: I love my tractor.
Easter Easter When it comes down to it, nothing unseen fits comfortably into the containers of what is seen. Time is one of those things. And surely you know, Easter is another.
Jarvis Coffin Mozart on Norway Pond Mozart was with us that day, regretting every other invitation from the concert halls of Europe and around the world.
Jarvis Coffin Up Yours As usual, it took a minute when I slipped behind the curtain and unfolded the paper ballot to process all the names in front of me.
Food About Breakfast I stopped ordering scrambled eggs at restaurants, including good ones, long ago. Invariably— as in, every case, every occasion—scrambled eggs come out overcooked and rubbery, sometimes flecked with specs of brown.
Jarvis Coffin Nothing Much Happens If you had to pick one thing to describe rural life, it could easily be that nothing much new ever happens.
Jarvis Coffin Just Like That Thanksgiving, and just like that our inboxes are full of Black Friday offers. The world is released to fill the airways with carols, string holiday lights, and buy Christmas trees.
Jarvis Coffin Porcupine Going forward, I want to stress this for any porcupines that may be reading this postcard: Huck does not sniff around first thing in the morning. Remain calm. Stay put.
Jarvis Coffin Crunch Time We can imagine fifty thousand acorns hitting the ground in front and another fifty thousand more behind. A total of one hundred thousand acorns scattered across our parcel in the woods.
Jarvis Coffin Summer's End Back to school always sneaks up on me. I am still not used to the fact it comes before Labor Day--nor am I happy about it.
JarvisCoffin Bear The counselors positioned it this way after breakfast: go back to the cabin, brush your teeth, put on good shoes, we’re going bear hunting.
Postcard They're Baaack The black flies came early this year. The adage has been Mother’s Day through Father’s Day, but I think they were here right after Easter. We live in the woods by the water, prime conditions for the little bloodsuckers.
Jarvis Coffin Pilgrimage Streams of people ahead of us down the footpaths, all of us coming behind those who excavated the caves of worship centuries before
Country living Snail Salad It is entertaining to imagine myself at the table with my grandchildren, bargaining with them to finish their snail salad.
Country living February The rhododendron leaves are folded up very tight this morning. I could pluck one and slide it into a cigar tube. It is forecasted to be twelve degrees tonight, and the temperature is headed down for the weekend.
Country living Ice A couple of people went through the ice last week on a nearby lake. They were rescued, thankfully, but it always sends a shock and a reminder.
Jarvis Coffin Happy New Year and a Half New Year feels more like the middle of the year to me. The feeling derives from measuring time in school years and the passing of summer vacations.
Christmas Eve, Christmas No More Work Tonight At around three o’clock on Christmas Eve afternoon, my father would lead my brothers and me into the living room, motion us onto the sofa or a place on the floor, pour himself a glass of wine, settle into the armchair next to the fireplace and start reading Charles
Country living All Bluster. No Snow. The sun is weak against the dark and cold right now. It is powerless to rescue young sprouts out when they shouldn't be.
Country living Happy Thanksgiving -- and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer
