Archive for September 2012
two last pages to write
Once the poems are written, and the footnotes are proofread, and the poems are snug in their sections, there are still two pages to write.
The first is the Acknowledgements page. I have so many people to thank. They include all the people who have helped me along the way. These will include the members of my two writing groups, who listened to me read from my work, month after month, and who offered lots of comments and suggestions. I will also thank my writing coaches who have given me specific criticism on particular poems and have improved my writing immensely with their mentoring. I will also thank the readers of my Blog, you, who have read my writing, given me huge encouragement and a way to work through my ideas. I will also be thanking the members of my family, particularly my son… they have listened to my poems and read them and suffered through the long story of my project from beginning to end. And, of course, I have to extend a huge thank you to the New Brunswick Arts Board, artsnb, for the Creations Grant that supported me during the project.
The second page to write is the Dedication. There is no contest for this one. This manuscript will be dedicated to my husband. In spite of self-proclaimed disinterest in the world of the arts, he has listened to every poem, often in multiple versions, helped me find words when they eluded me, and suffered my elation, moping and bad moods. He has also driven me all over the country-side to find edible plants, sat through an orchid identification course, and mingled with the botanists on a couple of field excursions. He has been there in the audience at public poetry readings and never complained about the hours I spend at courses and meetings and writing workshops. He flatly refused to eat any of my gatherings and concoctions, but I believe this was so he could call the paramedics if any of my plant identifications ever proved incorrect!
For his endless love and support, this manuscript is dedicated to my husband.
Copyright Jane Tims 2012
transitions
Now, as I am finishing my manuscript of poetry on local foods, I am aware of the change this means for me. I know there will be a new project but I am not yet certain what it will be. I have many things to choose from… perhaps I’ll begin a new series of poems… perhaps I’ll write some non-fiction on an environmental theme… perhaps I’ll finish some of the paintings I have begun.
Although I like best to write, I find creative activities substitute for one another. For example, when I am not writing for an extended period of time, I am often embedded in some other creative work such as painting or sewing. Now, as I finish my manuscript, I have begun to weave on my loom. It gives me thinking time as I approach the end of my writing project, to work through the final steps in my mind. It also creates some certainty for me and provides a transition to my next project.
To me, weaving exemplifies the lure of creative endeavor. The producing requires knowledge and skill, and builds confidence. The process is relaxing and time is made available for thought and concentration. The threads and fabrics are luxurious to touch and the colors are bright and joyful. When I am finished a project, I am so proud of the resulting textile, I want to show the world.
My loom is a simple floor loom, 24 inches wide. I bought it at a country auction, about 15 years ago. My sister and I were among the stragglers at the auction, trying to outlast a heavy rain. In the corner, we saw a bundle of varnished wood and some metal parts. “I think that’s a loom,” whispered my savvy sister. When the item came up for bid, there were few left in the audience, and no one knew just what ‘it’ was. I can’t remember what I paid for it, but I know it was a bargain.
My loom and I have not been steady company. It takes forever to install the warp (I began to install my current warp in May!), and weaving is hard on my back. But the fabrics we have made together, my loom and I, are beautiful and comfortable and good for the soul.
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yellow line
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the road is fabric
weave of asphalt
ditch and yellow line
warp of guard rail
fence and heddle
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trees in plantations
lines on the hayfield
hip and curve of the earth
weft as she turns in her sleep
~
shuttle, piloted
through landscape
and watershed
textile in folds
texture the yearn of the loom
~
faults in the granite
potholes in pavement
rifts in the fabric
where weavers might falter
revisit the work
of earlier times
~
learn the lessons
taught by the loom –
choose the weft wisely
balance the color, the texture
maintain the tension
fix mistakes as you go
~
when your back hurts,
rest
~
listen to the whisper
of weave
of yellow line
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~
Copyright Jane Tims 2012
apple tree shadow
This time of year, I watch for the old apple trees along the road. Most are neglected, and the fruit remains unpicked, even for cider. When the apples fall, they lie beneath the tree in a circle of red or yellow, mimicking the shadow of the tree at noon.
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apple shadow
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days follow days
and the apples
fall to the ditch,
claim the gravel
edge the asphalt
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ripe shadow space
at the base of
the leaning tree
~
passing cars play
polo and wasps
worry in the
rotting remains
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Copyright Jane Tims 2012
a walk through the covered bridge – disappearing covered bridges
Last week we took a drive to re-visit some of the covered bridges we saw in 1992 as part of a special project to celebrate Canada’s 125th birthday. One of these was the Stone Ridge Covered Bridge (formally known as Keswick River #6), crossing the Keswick River at Upper Stone Ridge in York County. I was looking forward to seeing the bridge because we had recorded some interesting carvings in 1992. Among the usual initials, someone had craved the images of three houses, one with steps and two chimneys, and one, a cottage, on the sill of the bridge window.
A short drive on a pretty country road along the Keswick River brought us to the bridge… a metal Bailey bridge, constructed to cross the river at the point where the covered bridge had once stood. The new bridge was sturdy and had its own charm, but it was so disappointing to know the old covered bridge was gone forever. The Stone Ridge Covered Bridge was lost to fire on October 10, 2008.
The Stone Ridge Covered Bridge was built in 1914 and had a span of 123′ 4″ and a total length of 126′ 4″. It had a roadway width of 14′ 10″ and a capacity of 10 T.
I wrote in our journal, on May 1, 1992: “most carvings were on the flat of the horizontal plate that formed the window sill and ran the length of the bridge”.’ I also wrote: “lots of hacking and hewing done on the window part of the sill”. The oldest date we recorded was ‘May 9, 1951 VHA’.
Some of the other carvings on the bridge in 1992 were: ‘LA + LB’, ‘WLR 54’, ‘VHA MARCH 7, 1952’, ‘1951 [or 1957] MAY 7 WLB [and a small heart]’, ‘KM 1952’, ‘KMB 9/55’, and ‘BB 1951’. There was also a separate carving of an upward arrow beside a ‘B’ and on the next line, ‘KM A4 54’.
I wonder who was VHA and how often did he or she return to the bridge over the years? Who was KM in 1952, and did she return, married, in 1955 with her new last name beginning with ‘B’? Was she married on April 4, 1954 to ‘B’? A mystery, perhaps solvable by looking into some local marriage records?!
It is sad to see the covered bridges in New Brunswick disappear, one at a time. Some are lost due to the dramatic power of the spring freshet. Others are lost to vandalism (fire) – every Hallowe’en residents keep a careful watch on the covered bridge in our community. In 1992 when we did the covered bridge project, our list had 71 covered bridges. The New Brunswick Department of Transportation website http://www.gnb.ca/0113/coveredbridges/coveredbridges-e.asp says there are presently 61 covered bridges in New Brunswick.
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Copyright Jane Tims 2012
Highbush Cranberry (Viburnum trilobum Marsh.)
Like miniature fireworks, bright bunches of the berries of Highbush Cranberry (Viburnum trilobum Marsh.) burst along our roadsides in late summer. Highbush Cranberry is also called Cranberry, Pimbina, and in Quebec, quatres-saisons des bois.
The Highbush Cranberry is a large deciduous shrub, found in cool woods, thickets, shores and slopes. It has grey bark and dense reddish-brown twigs. The large lobed leaves are very similar to red maple.
In spring and summer, the white flowers bloom in a cyme or corymb (a flat-topped or convex open flower-cluster). Most flowers in the cluster are small, but the outermost flowers are large and showy, making the plant attractive for insect pollinators.
The fruit is a drupe, ellipsoid and brightly colored red or orange. The juicy, acidic fruit has a very similar flavour to cranberry (Vaccinium spp. L.) and is used for jams and jellies. The preserves are rich in Vitamin C.
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fireworks, quatres-saisons
(Viburnum trilobum Marsh.)
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against a drawing paper sky
some liberated hand
has sketched fireworks
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remember precursors in spring?
blowsy cymes, white sputter
of a Catherine wheel
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now these berries, ready to pick
bold, spherical outburst
of vermillion sparks
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a pyrotechnic flash of red
strontium detonates
in receptive dark
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a four-season celebration
spring confetti, berries,
fireworks in fall
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cranberry preserves – acidic,
tart blaze of summer sky
winter ignition
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© Jane Tims 2012
© Jane Tims 2012
a moment of beautiful – Blue-eyed Grass
the space: the meadow above the lake
the beautiful: a bright blue flower – Blue-eyed Grass
All grass is not grass. In spring, some of those green blades reveal their true identity. You look down, and a blue eye stares back at you. You have found Blue-eyed Grass, Sisyrinchium montanum Greene.
Blue-eyed grass is not a grass at all, but a member of the iris family. It inhabits moist, open ground in fields and meadows, and blooms in late spring and early summer. The plant is low and slender, with a deep blue flower and a bright yellow center, borne at the top of a straight, usually unbranched, stem. The stem is two-edged, flattened on the margins. The flowers are borne in the axil of a sharp, upheld bract called a spathe. In French, the plant is called Bermudienne. Montanum means ‘of the mountains’.
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Blue-eyed Grass
Sisyrinchium montanum Greene
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I walk in grass,
but it isn’t grass –
Sisyrinchium
it winks at me
with azure eyes,
and I blink brown at them
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Blue-eyed Grass
stands straight and still,
staunch Bermudienne
simple maid
with a watchful eye,
and a sword above her head
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© Jane Tims 2012
growing and gathering – names of edible wild plants
As I have worked on my poetry project about eating local foods, I have researched each wild plant, found it in its natural environment, and then written about it. With all this, I am exposed to the words and characteristics of a particular plant and it is never certain which way the ‘muse’ will take me when I write the poem. Sometimes, I end up creating a poem about eating local food, and sometimes, I get a poem about something else. Usually these stray poems are, in some way, about the name of the plant.
I find the names of plants are very inspiring. First is the Latin or scientific name, familiar to me after years of botanizing, but mysterious to most people. I love to find out about the origins of the name and I usually discover the name is descriptive of the plant. An example is the scientific name for Yellow Wood-sorrel (Oxalis stricta L.), a small yellow-flowered, three-leaved plant of waste areas. The name stricta means ‘erect’, referring to the way the plant grows when young or the way its seed pods are held. The word oxalis is from the Greek oxys meaning ‘sour’, a reference to the taste of the leaves.
The common names of plants are also intriguing. Sometimes these are different for each area where the plant is found. For example, the Cloudberry (Rubus Chamaemorus L.), a small relative of Blackberry with a peach-colored fruit, is known locally (and particularly in Newfoundland) as Bakeapple. Plant names may also refer to a characteristic of the plant. A good example is Heal-all (Prunella vulgaris L.), a small purple flower. It inhabits waste areas and lawns, becoming small and compact if mowed. One of its common names, ‘Carpenter Weed’, comes from this characteristic… Carpenter Weed mends holes in lawns! The name Heal-all comes from the old belief that the plant has medicinal properties.
‘heal-all’ Copyright Jane Tims 2011
So, among my collection of poems about edible plants, I have a group of poems about the plants and their names, but not about their use as local foods. I have to decide whether or not to include them in my collection, or to set them free!
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Heal-all
(Prunella vulgaris L.)
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snug Prunella, neat little weed
prim and proper, gone to seed
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first called Brunella: gatherers found
Prunella purple fades to brown
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a carpenter weed, busy, strong
mends bare patches on the lawn
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heal-all, self-heal – your name suggests
an herbal secret you possess
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© Jane Tims 2012
one red tree
On a drive to see some covered bridges in York County, we took a logging road along the Pokiok and Little Pokiok Streams.
Years ago, on this road, we saw an albino deer. On this recent trip however, the only wildlife we saw were the Flickers. As we drove along the road, a Flicker would fly up and lead us a ways before veering into the woods on the roadside.
It was a good road, maintained by a local forest company. Along the way, we crossed a small metal bridge and I stopped to take a photo of a small stream winding its way through a bog.
It was a lovely stream, deep and tea-colored. Over in the corner of the bog was one red tree, reminding me that our summer is fading quickly.
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end of summer
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on the path along the brook
one leaf bleeds into water
in town the walks are stony
chaff of linden, seeds
dry ditches overflow with flowers
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I shrug
(no matter
summer is ended)
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yellow rattle
pods and grasses
rehearse an incantation
wind sulks in corners of the shed
warmth and sun
paint the orange of pumpkins
knit winter mittens
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I gather signs of autumn
asters, windfalls, flocks of red wings
frantic in the alders
acorns, hollow galls from oak
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Orion peeks above the trees
time forgotten, found
and summer with rain never ends
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I ask for rain
(arms loaded with everlasting)
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Previously published as ‘end of summer’, Sept. 19, 2011, http://www.nichepoetryandprose.wordpress.com
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© Jane Tims 2012
a walk through the covered bridge – Falls Brook Covered Bridge, Falls Brook on the Nackawic River
On May 16, 1992, we visited the Falls Brook Covered Bridge in York County as part of our project on covered bridges for Canada’s 125th anniversary. The Falls Brook Covered Bridge, on the Nackawic Siding Road at Nortondale, is also known as the Nackawic Siding Covered Bride, and is formally known as Nackawic River #5. This means that there used to be at least four other covered bridges crossing the Nackawic River or its tributaries, but they have been lost for various reasons.
This past weekend, we visited the Falls Brook bridge again, to see if it is still there. The sign at the end of the road was hopeful, indicating a covered bridge could be found on the road. Most of New Brunswick’s covered bridges are marked by these signs. 
My notes from 1992 said the road to the bridge was in poor shape – ‘spooky but very pretty and other-worldly’ was what I wrote. The road has deteriorated over the years to become a narrow track with deep potholes and large outcroppings of rock.
The bridge was still there, tucked in among fir and maple woods. It had been renovated within the last couple of years, based on the presence of some new large timbers and completely new wood siding.
The Falls Brook Covered Bridge was built in 1927. It is 63′ long, with a span of 60′. It is 14′ 10″ wide and has a maximum load of 8 T. The height clearance is 4.0 m. The architecture of the bridge is amazing, showing brace and beam construction with various hardwood joinery.
Unfortunately, the renovations have removed many of the markings we noted in 1992. At that time, the oldest dates were a carved ‘1885’ and, in black ink, ‘Ptarmigan hunter Ray Brown May 12th 1896 Horse had bad leg’. I have asked a well-informed birder about this and he told me there are no other records of ptarmigan in New Brunswick. Other carvings we noted in 1992 included: ‘M.A.K.’, ‘WDH’, ‘Colin + BrenDa’, ‘Could be fishin’ ‘ , ‘D C ‘ and ‘TOGETHER AGANE Betty and Johnathan’.
The markings from the 1800s were gone, but ‘D.C.’ was still there, as well as some interesting new markings.
Some show that height is no barrier to leaving your name!
If you have covered bridges in your area, take note of the markings people have left behind! Your record may be all that survives!
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Copyright Jane Tims 2012
a walk through the covered bridge – Bell Bridge, South Branch of the Oromocto River
Another covered bridge crossing the South Branch of the Oromocto River is the Bell Bridge near Juvenile Settlement, Sunbury County (listed as South Oromocto Rover #3 in the April 1992 pamphlet ‘Covered Bridges in New Brunswick’, no author indicated). This bridge was built in 1931. It is 126′ 4″ long with a span of 123′ 4″. The roadway width is 15′ 5″, and the load limit is 10 t (6 t for double axle vehicles). The maximum clearance is 3.7 meters and a metal height barrier has been installed to ensure trucks exceeding the clearance cannot proceed through the bridge since this can do significant damage to the bridge structure.
The water at this point in the river is shallow and clear. I watched for a long time to see a fish, but they will be hiding in the cooler waters of the deeper pools.
We visited this bridge on April 26, 1992 as part of our Covered Bridge Project for Canada’s 125th anniversary.
In 1992, we found many carved initials inside the bridge, on the various timbers. The oldest date we found was ‘April 3, 1932’. Some of the other initials included ‘LYL May 1, 1932′, RPC [perhaps PRC] June 6 /32’, ‘RS ’77 ‘, ‘ RT MAY 49’, ‘RM AUG 38’, ‘EK’, and ‘AE Mc APR 3/32’. We also found the initials ‘A.K.O.G. APPI 35.’ with the ‘O’ written as a diamond.
On our August drive, I noticed two unrecorded inscriptions: ‘ALIE 69’ and ‘M.O. L R.A.’
I also found a large carved ‘S’, very hard to see…
the ‘S’ is hard to see, just above the knot and about three times the length
Do you suppose ‘M.O.’ still loves ‘R.A.’ ?
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forever
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we carve our initials
in the beams of the covered bridge
pledge our love to endure
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but these words may
outlast the love
even the people
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Copyright Jane Tims 2012
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