This is Crescent Dragonwagon's Typepad Profile.
Join Typepad and start following Crescent Dragonwagon's activity
Crescent Dragonwagon
Interests: gardening, npr, new england, grief, cooking, reading, cats, swimming, fitness, poetry, novels, sustainability, da ali g show, the american south, farmer's markets, muddy waters, resilience, if i didn't write, people would call me a dilettante and a flake. ah, books for children, ecology in its broadest sense, articles. thus i get by with excessive interest in almost everything. reading, reading. i'm extremely sex-positive, though only in the context of a long-term, committed, vibrant partnership. i love the blues (think mose allison, lou rawls) and british folk/rock (think pentangle). i love improv (both seeing and doing it), eating and cooking plant-centered cuisine, but i do write: culinary memoir, wondering why people make themselves and others miserable at times when they could do otherwise, debating ideas (as opposed to attacking people). my chocolate? bittersweet. tv? non-existent; but i am devoted to netflix. humor? stephen colbert, black adder.
Recent Activity
You know, these same prints hang in my home, Cathy! xxxooo
Commented Aug 12, 2012 on still, sendak at growing curious
still, sendak
We're in the middle of a big household re-arrangement as we prepare for my mother-in-law to move in. I decided it was time to bring out some precious things again. E is 7 and knows not to chew on book spines. I guess I also want a little more of *me* in our living space because everyone else ...
Thank you, Zak! Cant wait to see it... happy cooking. xxoo
Commented Nov 20, 2011 on "Is that your real name?" at "Nothing is wasted on the writer."
"Is that your real name?"
"Many people do dumb things in their teenage years, but most have the sense not to cast them in concrete, which they then have to drag around for the rest of their lives... "At sixteen, I got married for the first time. My then-husband-to-be and I thought that the woman should not take the man...
Theresa... thank you. I am overwhelmed by your generous, compassionate, interesting, thoughtful response. I do remember you and your sister, and am glad you remember us, especially Ned, and so warmly. I am glad my words about my current sojourns and attempts to understand it speak to you and are helpful and provocative. I am glad to be reminded to come from the best part of myself, to remain honest, to continue to try for integrity in life and in writing, so as (in part) to be worthy of your admiration and respect, as well as for self-respect. I will be delighted to see, touch, and read your book, and I didn't for a minute imagine that you wrote me to hustle praise for me!(I'll also be delighted to see dear Red Hawk again, too). And I understand 'impossible because the path of becoming someone who knows anything about food has been a long, thorny, mud-strewn one...' because I think the path of becoming ANYONE who knows anything about anything is exactly that. Strewn. Fraught. Tough. Not without joy and discoveries, but a lot of rugged scrambles and setbacks and seemingly lost ways.
And yet, we keep walking, and gradually make a path thereby. As you, clearly, are doing, dear one. I wish you much courage and even more curiosity --- I find, these days, that inquiry and curiosity get me much farther than I would have imagined back when I felt I needed answers more than anything. And, of course, I send you love and respect... for you and for the journey you are on... cd
Commented Oct 22, 2011 on in which I thank my plucky stars, though not without regret at "Nothing is wasted on the writer."
in which I thank my plucky stars, though not without regret
The way my father always told it, as it turns out, was better. "On his ninetieth birthday, the late Maurice Chevalier ..." my father, himself the late Maurice Zolotow, would begin, relishing the telling so much he almost gave off sparks of pleasure, " ...was asked how it felt to be 90. 'Marvelo...
Ah, Rose-Anne... I too feel that about trees (in fact an illegal tree-cut features prominently in the novel Im currently at work on), endangered species. I think in the big feelings, the ones that overwhelm us, we are never alone --- it just feels that way. Another reason to read, and write,,, to know one isnt. XXXX As always, THANK YOU for appreciating my work.
Commented Oct 9, 2011 on elegy for a tomatillo ... and Steve Jobs at "Nothing is wasted on the writer."
elegy for a tomatillo ... and Steve Jobs
We planned to go for a walk at twilight tonight, David and I, but when we stepped outside the dusk was chillier than we'd anticipated. "I wonder if I should go check the forecast," he said. "Yeah, you should," I said, "because if it's going to get below freezing we probably need to do some harve...
Thank you, dear Cathy... I think this one is about the act of percolation, actually. The strange strong brew we make from the grounds of our brief time here. xxoo
Commented Oct 7, 2011 on elegy for a tomatillo ... and Steve Jobs at "Nothing is wasted on the writer."
elegy for a tomatillo ... and Steve Jobs
We planned to go for a walk at twilight tonight, David and I, but when we stepped outside the dusk was chillier than we'd anticipated. "I wonder if I should go check the forecast," he said. "Yeah, you should," I said, "because if it's going to get below freezing we probably need to do some harve...
Thank you, Joy. I am honored by your words and grateful that our lives can touch this way.
I think, sometimes, that it's all a gift: the good days and the bad, the sunflowers and the weeds.
xxxooo
Commented Jul 13, 2011 on Aunt Dot & the Splendid Sunflowers at "Nothing is wasted on the writer."
Aunt Dot & the Splendid Sunflowers
When I came to 410 East 57th Street that night, it was already dark, but not late. Early winter, then, it must have been, maybe about 7:30 or 8:00. A Sunday evening. Aunt Dot, then 95 or 96, was seated facing into the living room, in one of the two 50’s-era Danish modern recliner chairs (blon...
Julie... now I want to know about YOUR sunflower experience and connection!
Commented Jul 3, 2011 on Aunt Dot & the Splendid Sunflowers at "Nothing is wasted on the writer."
Aunt Dot & the Splendid Sunflowers
When I came to 410 East 57th Street that night, it was already dark, but not late. Early winter, then, it must have been, maybe about 7:30 or 8:00. A Sunday evening. Aunt Dot, then 95 or 96, was seated facing into the living room, in one of the two 50’s-era Danish modern recliner chairs (blon...
Anne, my dear, thank you, thank you. You ask, I'm sure rhetorically,about "words (that) are able to reach out, over hundreds of miles" --- I think because in that realm, there's neither time nor space. Where you and Bob meet, and me and Ned, and me and Aunt Dot... mysteriously, and despite, in the face of, maybe even because of, all we've lost in the world of space and time.
As I believe Muddy Waters said (and was reprised by the Rolling Stones) "Love is love and not fade away."
Commented Jul 3, 2011 on Aunt Dot & the Splendid Sunflowers at "Nothing is wasted on the writer."
Aunt Dot & the Splendid Sunflowers
When I came to 410 East 57th Street that night, it was already dark, but not late. Early winter, then, it must have been, maybe about 7:30 or 8:00. A Sunday evening. Aunt Dot, then 95 or 96, was seated facing into the living room, in one of the two 50’s-era Danish modern recliner chairs (blon...
Thank you again, Joy. That it spoke to someone in your line of work is an honor --- I hope it proves of use to you and those you serve, and I am grateful your friend sent it to you...
Commented Jul 3, 2011 on Aunt Dot & the Splendid Sunflowers at "Nothing is wasted on the writer."
Aunt Dot & the Splendid Sunflowers
When I came to 410 East 57th Street that night, it was already dark, but not late. Early winter, then, it must have been, maybe about 7:30 or 8:00. A Sunday evening. Aunt Dot, then 95 or 96, was seated facing into the living room, in one of the two 50’s-era Danish modern recliner chairs (blon...
Thank you, Rose-Anne...Your comments are always so generous. My aunt was childless, yet there I was (and the "tender care and love" in escorting my privilege). I too, have no children... but my hope is, ALMOST my certainty, that there will be someone for me too when I get there. xxxooo
Commented Jul 3, 2011 on Aunt Dot & the Splendid Sunflowers at "Nothing is wasted on the writer."
Aunt Dot & the Splendid Sunflowers
When I came to 410 East 57th Street that night, it was already dark, but not late. Early winter, then, it must have been, maybe about 7:30 or 8:00. A Sunday evening. Aunt Dot, then 95 or 96, was seated facing into the living room, in one of the two 50’s-era Danish modern recliner chairs (blon...
Thank you, Kim. Tangents R Us! (Actually learned this from my late father. He was a brilliant speaker. Extemporaneous and never afraid to veer off his subject, knowing that if it came to his mind, there was a reason why, and it would lead back to the larger path. He taught me, never consciously, to trust the narrative, and follow its meanderings. Not that I dont edit like crazy, too.)
Commented Apr 2, 2011 on "Stranger, stop!" --- ongoing conversation between dead & living at "Nothing is wasted on the writer."
"Stranger, stop!" --- ongoing conversation between dead & living
It's about 1800 steps from my home to the graveyard near the Rich's house. Though I've visited that small old family graveyard for 53 years, this was the first year I noticed the large lilac bush at its back. It caught me only accidentally this spring, 2010; I happened to glance left as I was ...
Thanks, Mona... So believe this. A blog update in a couple days.
Commented Mar 31, 2011 on practice makes practice: part one at "Nothing is wasted on the writer."
practice makes practice: part one
"Practice makes perfect." We've all heard it. Many of us have said it. But what a damned lie it is! And what assumptions that damned lie makes! That there is "perfect", first off, and that once you've reached it, you've reached it. That there is a clear linear progression. It goes from where ...
Thank you, thank you, Evelyn! My father so shaped and inspired me... it makes me happy to pass it along. May I live up to your generous words!
Commented Mar 11, 2011 on "Is that your real name?" at "Nothing is wasted on the writer."
"Is that your real name?"
"Many people do dumb things in their teenage years, but most have the sense not to cast them in concrete, which they then have to drag around for the rest of their lives... "At sixteen, I got married for the first time. My then-husband-to-be and I thought that the woman should not take the man...
What a gorgeous quote, Lynn... I love Emerson and the transcendentalists...being as how I think were all trying to transcend something or other. Hard to believe, though, as I think about it, that anyone would actually find nature leaden. Everything in the world of phenomena, from the lilac bush to my cats, seems luminous to me, at least at times illuminating me rather than the other way around...I am glad you found your way here too, glad it speaks to you, and most grateful for your kindness in letting me know. Thank you!
Commented Aug 4, 2010 on a sound of wings unseen, inadvertent wisdom: a fathering day post at "Nothing is wasted on the writer."
a sound of wings unseen, inadvertent wisdom: a fathering day post
Walking yesterday, up near Frazier's sugar shack here in Vermont, I heard an animal rustle in the underbrush edging the woods by the gravel road. Though I stood stock-still and watched, I couldn't see what it was. Too large for a chipmunk or a squirrel, smaller by far than a deer, I was left onl...
Ginny! What a lovely surprise to find on a coolish New England summer morning! I worked so hard in writing that book, and for so long... it always truly pleases me when someone takes the time to let me know that PV has made a difference in their life and kitchen. I am touched and feel most privileged to have been helpful to you. And I LOVE inviting people into ingredients they may not yet have discovered...
In the no good deed goes unpunished department, should you feel like saying these terrific things on, say, an amazon reader review... well, I surely would have no objections. But whether or not you do, THANK YOU! Happy, satisfying abundant cooking to you, Ginny ---
cd
Commented Jul 31, 2010 on "Is that your real name?" at "Nothing is wasted on the writer."
"Is that your real name?"
"Many people do dumb things in their teenage years, but most have the sense not to cast them in concrete, which they then have to drag around for the rest of their lives... "At sixteen, I got married for the first time. My then-husband-to-be and I thought that the woman should not take the man...
Got my fingers crossed for you, babe! (And for all of us --- I know you will add so much to this group, which is shaping up SO interestingly!)
Commented Jul 29, 2010 on practice makes practice: part one at "Nothing is wasted on the writer."
practice makes practice: part one
"Practice makes perfect." We've all heard it. Many of us have said it. But what a damned lie it is! And what assumptions that damned lie makes! That there is "perfect", first off, and that once you've reached it, you've reached it. That there is a clear linear progression. It goes from where ...
Yes, Jane! Exactly! You are so right - every single time its new, and the carry-over is minimal compared to the way each piece insists on wanting to be written. You are so welcome --- I am honored and so pleased that this spoke to you. xxoo cd
Commented Jul 21, 2010 on practice makes practice: part one at "Nothing is wasted on the writer."
practice makes practice: part one
"Practice makes perfect." We've all heard it. Many of us have said it. But what a damned lie it is! And what assumptions that damned lie makes! That there is "perfect", first off, and that once you've reached it, you've reached it. That there is a clear linear progression. It goes from where ...
Jerri, I definitely plan to practice/play more on this --- it is so close to the mysteries of what I actively, daily engage in and with. Thank you for letting me know my leaps of logic work --- of course Im never sure they do , but as W.S. Merwin said in the poem Berryman, If you have to be sure dont write. Hey, hows the grant coming?
Commented Jul 17, 2010 on practice makes practice: part one at "Nothing is wasted on the writer."
practice makes practice: part one
"Practice makes perfect." We've all heard it. Many of us have said it. But what a damned lie it is! And what assumptions that damned lie makes! That there is "perfect", first off, and that once you've reached it, you've reached it. That there is a clear linear progression. It goes from where ...
Dearest Kim, I am honored that you hungrily wait for my posts and find meaning and use from them. I often write them mentally (the way all of us do much writing, more than on paper / screen) but love when time opens up, or I open up to, WRITE-write them. I suppose thats one of the challenges for me, because I also write for a living (to say nothing of eldercare responsibilities, partnership w/ DK, garden, fitness, etc) .. but it gives me such satisfaction to order thoughts and ideas in form as, lately, I seem to be able to do most readily on the blog. That readers like you get something from it --- really excellent icing on an already good cake. (Thinking of the chocolate-raspberry cake some friends served me recently in Tulsa...)
Commented Jul 17, 2010 on practice makes practice: part one at "Nothing is wasted on the writer."
practice makes practice: part one
"Practice makes perfect." We've all heard it. Many of us have said it. But what a damned lie it is! And what assumptions that damned lie makes! That there is "perfect", first off, and that once you've reached it, you've reached it. That there is a clear linear progression. It goes from where ...
Bruce, I am so tickled to learn you are Bean Book fan, and I have happy news... Ive just finished revising (which is to say, completely rewriting) and it will be published in its born-again version by Workman Publishing in 2011!
Commented Jul 9, 2010 on CALENDAR at "Nothing is wasted on the writer."
CALENDAR
JANUARY, 2012 Saturday, January 14: 1 p.m. - 5:00 p.m./ Westminster West, Vermont Ongoing Works-in-Progress group, at Crescent's home. Email [email protected], with "2nd Saturday" in subject line, for more information. SECOND WEEK OF JANUARY: Publication of Bean by B...
Crescent Dragonwagon is now following The Typepad Team
Mar 15, 2010
Ill forward this to him and I know hell get in touch ASAP.
Commented Feb 9, 2010 on dreaming, as two decades join: "rare hare of hope," part one at "Nothing is wasted on the writer."
dreaming, as two decades join: "rare hare of hope," part one
My unconscious, in the dreams it chooses to deliver to me, seems to view my conscious mind as a kindergartner. When it gives me the information that it's decided I need, it does so in very simple terms. Simple, but strange. Like the dream I had two nights ago, just before one decade ended and ...
Barbara, as I reply to your sweet words I am in NY, getting ready to spend time with my aunt, who is six months past 100 and who has just been put on hospice care. Ive written about her quite a bit here, so you may sort of know-her in the way you sort-of know me, and I sort-of (through your posts) know you.
What I know is life asks more of us than we are ready or able to give --- and we become ready by saying yes --- which we must, even when we want to say no (or imagine that we CAN say no).
But help also arrives, from unlikely places at times. Im glad my words spoke to you, glad sweet Beanblossom is still in some sense alive and giving through those words, and glad that your dear words have given me what I need to begin this difficult day.
What a life it is, learning to love regardless! Thank you, B...
cd.
Commented Jan 18, 2010 on Part 2: love/ let sleeping cats tell the truth at "Nothing is wasted on the writer."
Part 2: love/ let sleeping cats tell the truth
Here in Vermont, there is a moment of exquisiteness in the turning of each year. It only lasts for a few late summer days, days still warm and sun-filled, the outdoors still richly greened with only a few colored leaves, garden still producing. Yet in this charged moment, there's the slightest b...
Barbara, thank you for this kind and thoughtful response. First, I hope you and your sister have many delicious adventures in and with cornbread! Second... I appreciate your familiarity with my work and especially with Neds death. I feel, now, 9 years on, that probably one way, or reason, I got through that brutal period, is that so many, many people, including many I didnt know (like you) were thinking of me and sending those wishes my way --- I feel that perhaps it formed a sort of protective circle around me, and kept me anchored to the earth at the time I was just ready to float away, and indeed felt like I was. Of course theres no way to ever prove such things --- its just a sense I have now as I look back on that period.
I dont agree with Dylan Thomas that after the first death there is no other. As each relationship is different, the ending that death brings --- to the person, not, perhaps, the relationship, which continues, changed --- is different. How you grieve for your mom --- even if it was a good death as it may have been, or if you felt it was time --- will depend so much on what your lifelong patterns were and how they changed over time and circumstance. I know you know this, just as I know you will grieve, in your own way, when the time is right. Grief has its own schedule, its own ideas about how and when it should be expressed.
I also think that grief is an inevitable part of love, and that it exists side by side with celebration.
I wish you courage and persistence on your journey, Barbara.
Commented Jan 3, 2010 on Redecoration, Part One: Aunt Dot contemplates the living room of the future at "Nothing is wasted on the writer."
Redecoration, Part One: Aunt Dot contemplates the living room of the future
"I suppose you'll live here one day?" Aunt Dot said. A statement; a question. She gave a quick, birdlike glance at me, then looked away. Waiting, I naturally assumed, for an answer. But how could I answer when I wasn't sure what the question was? She was sitting, that night, on the wooden cha...
Subscribe to Crescent Dragonwagon’s Recent Activity
0 Favorites
Blogs and Sites