AT THE OLD CARETAKERS’ CABIN at the Church O The Pines, the Old Year fittingly bows out with a coating of hoar frost. Time for new days, new dreams, a New Year. But the frost reminds us, there is beauty in all things—old and new, up and down, all around. And a young adopted cat named Koda, child of the
APPROXIMATELY 2022 YEARS AGO… an infant was born (skeptics who doubt that he ever really existed advance a weak case, with more faith in skepticism itself than in evidence) likely in a cave-like space under a simple stone dwelling. He was born to an unwed, teen-aged mother, delivered into poverty in a troubled corner of the world. About 33 years
THE RIVERSIDE FOREST at the Church O The Pines is cold, with more arctic blasts coming. Our small feathered friends gather hungrily round the feeders, and we make sure extra fare is put out. But in Orchid Corner of the writing office, tropical colors brighten the day. Happy Solstice!
AT THE CHURCH O THE PINES, morning brings a world transformed, as winter lays its snowy hand upon the forest. Everywhere is a scene of beauty and wonder. And under a frosted balsam fir ‘cave,’ a little adopted kitten named Koda—a true outdoorsman—follows picture-taking Dad and absorbs it all.
AT THE CHURCH O THE PINES the trees shiver in the wind off the river, which is now iced in. The wind chimes play their symphony. The birds and squirrels are well-fluffed. And Koda—our inveterate outdoorsman adopted as a kitten-of-the-woods last March; and his older brother, Simon, inveterate indoorsman, while away their time catnapping. Indoors. Even Koda only goes out