When it’s ‘puddle-wonderful’

in Just-

spring          when the world is mud-

luscious the little

lame balloonman

whistles          far          and wee

and eddieandbill come

running from marbles and

piracies and it's

spring

when the world is puddle-wonderful

the queer

old balloonman whistles

far          and             wee

and bettyandisbel come dancing

from hop-scotch and jump-rope and

it's

spring

and

         the

                  goat-footed

balloonMan          whistles

far

and

wee

“In Just Spring,’’ by E.E. Cummings (1894-1962), a poet who grew up in Cambridge, Mass., and as an adult continued to spend a lof of time in New England, particularly at his vacation home in Madison. N.H. At his death, he was considered the second most widely read poet in the United States, after Robert Frost.

Maybe to Hell but at least moving

Silver Lake Railroad at center of Silver Lake village, part of Madison, N.H., where e.e. cummings (as he signed himself) had a weekend and summer place. He died at a hospital in nearby North Conway.

“America makes prodigious mistakes, America has colossal faults, but one thing cannot be denied: America is always on the move. She may be going to Hell, of course, but at least she isn't standing still.”

— E.E. Cummings (1894-1962), American poet and essayist. He was born in Cambridge, Mass., and is buried at Forest Hills Cemetery in Boston.

Joy Farm, also now known as the E.E. Cummings House, a National Historic Landmark

Eating tranquilizers from childhood

New England (i.e., real) clam chowder

“You can’t escape the taste of the food you had as a child. In times of stress, what do you dream about? Your mother’s clam chowder. It’s security, comfort. It brings you home.

— Jacques Pepin, French-born celebrity chef and TV host. He lives in the charming town of Madison, Conn., on Long Island Sound.

Sunset at a beach in Madison

— Photo by Mike12345678901

In Madison: CCC Memorial plaque for Camp Hadley ruins, at entrance off Copse and Warpas Roads. The CCC created many parks and did much reforestation during the New Deal.

—Photo by Morrowlong 

Afternoon nap

 

"Katrina'' (oil), by VINCENT GIARRANO,  at Susan Powell Fine Art, Madison, Conn. in his show there, through Sept. 14.

Arcadia along Amtrak

 

                                         Photo by PAUL F.M. ZAHL

Marshland in Madison, Conn. ,  photographed the other day, as New England went  into high summer. It's such scenes that make the Amtrak line along long stretches of the Connecticut coast so soothing to ride on.