Monday, October 10, 2011

Giving the Gift of Beauty

Maxwell Mays - artist, illustrator, and very nice man, lived in the same town as me.
He owned almost three hundred acres of woodland with some streams and a beautiful pond, Carr's Pond, named after the family who farmed the land over a hundred and fifty years ago. Mr. Mays was always generous with his talent, his time, and his extra-ordinary backyard, letting people walk through, or fish. Several years before his death in 2009 he deeded his property to the Audubon Society of RI. This month it opened. This day I went walking there with my two youngest. We hiked, drew pictures in our nature journal, got our feet wet, and went home tired. Lucky me, this is only about two miles from my house.

One of our hiking games is this
the kids give me a list of words or phrases
then I have ten minutes to write a poem,
So here it is

Barefeet in October



I like the kitchen in the little green house.
It's a cool place
with a fireplace and a dock
so we can hang our barefeet in the water.




the leaves are magic
color changing
reflecting in the pond
a wonderful warm Indian Summer
October Day




ssshhh! the wind in the trees
the motorcycles miles away
the splash of barefeet
how can the water be so warm
so late
fall forgot the clouds and the cold




there's even an outhouse at the edge of the wood
like the one in New Hampshire when I was a kid
splashing my feet in the water
on a different dock
on a different day
just like this one
.



What a gift to have lived a life making art, sharing beauty,
then finding a way to continue that after death.



They'll grow up mindful of the beauty around them.
Thank You Maxwell Mays

2 comments:

  1. Wonderful post...love that you and your kiddos got to spend such quality time together.

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