This Apple-Shaped Earth

The apple-shaped earth and we upon it, surely the drift of them
is something grand,

I do not know what it is except that it is grand, and that it is
happiness . . . .

                                  —Walt Whitman

This Apple-Shaped Earth, bronze, Linda Hoffman, 2022

Do you remember as a kid thinking people on the other side of the world were standing upside?

My new bronze sculpture, This Apple-Shaped Earth is installed in Brookline, Massachusetts part of Studios without Walls exhibit along the Muddy River near the Longmont “T” stop. The theme is The Earth We Walk, and I made this piece especially for the exhibit. I wanted to highlight that this earth is all we have—there is nowhere else to go. We need to take care of it. This wonderful outdoor exhibit features thirteen artists. Put it on your summer to-do list! It will be up through September 5, 2022.

I also have a sculpture at The Edith Wharton’s Estate in Lenox, Massachusetts, part of the SculptureNow at the Mount 2022, featuring large-scale work of thirty artists. My favorite piece in the exhibit is the majestic dragon, Cecilia, by sculptor Robin Toast. It took three years to cut and stitch pieces of sheet metal to make the quilted dragon’s skin. It’s definitely worth a visit! The exhibit runs through October 19.

Cecilia, stitched sheet metal, Robin Toast, 2022

And a third outdoor exhibit that I recommend is the 2022 Outdoor Arts Biennial: Passages in Jamestown, Rhode Island. Take a stroll through this delightful village and you will find thirteen sculptures elegantly installed throughout the community. Refuge, my giraffe riding on a turtle’s back is installed near the library and playground. I’m hoping to see the giraffe and turtle’s noses rubbed smooth from young fingers discovering it.

Refuge, Linda Hoffman, Installed in Jamestown, Rhode Island. Photo: Molly Dickinson

And later today, Sunday June 19th, I will be giving a Dharma talk at the Fire Lotus Temple in Brooklyn, New York. It is part of the regular Sunday Service which begins at 9:30 with liturgy, followed by two periods of sitting meditation, and then the talk. I’ll be talking about Pruning, Juneteenth, and the Seven Factors of Awakening. The talk will be up on Zen Mountain Monastery’s podcast page sometime this week,

Happy Father’s Day!

Happy Juneteenth Day!

Happy Summer Solstice!

 Love, Linda

Hooray!

I received an email from an apple grower colleague asking if I’d mind if he read a poem I had shared with our holistic apple growers group. He will be speaking at the UU Church in Lincoln, Massachusetts on Sunday, April 25th.  I imagine he is speaking for their Earth Day service because of his long history of caring about apples and in particular, the heirloom apples of Maine. John Bunker is not only an apple grower, he is an apple sleuther. He has made it his life’s work to identify as many old apples in Maine as possible. People bring him apples, send him apples, email him photos of apples, and stop him on the street to tell him of old trees they know of and want to identify. John published a book in 2019, Apples and the Art of Detection: Tracking Down, Identifying, and Preserving Rare Apples.

The poem he was referring to in his email was one by the great 14th century Persian poet, Hafez.  

An Apple Tree Was Concerned

An apple tree was concerned 
about a late frost and losing its gifts 
that would help feed a poor family close by. 
Can't the clouds be generous with what falls from them? 
Can't the sun ration itself with precision? 

They can speak, trees, 
they can say the sweetest things
but it takes special ears to hear them,
ears that have listened to people
with great care. 

Indeed, this poem feels quite timely given wintry weather we experienced here in New England on Friday. 

I wrote back to John saying, “Of course! I think Hafez would be delighted.” And I was grateful to be reminded of it, because I, too, will be speaking on that same Sunday at our UU Church in Harvard with good friends, Piali De and her mother-in-law, Marion Stoddart.

Marion Stoddart is well known to many because of her groundbreaking work to inspire and lead the restoration of the Nashua River, at one time one of most polluted rivers in America. Piali De is a brilliant scientist and the CEO of Sensio Systems, an innovative company leading the way to support healthcare at home. We’ll be speaking about lessons learned from restoring the Nashua River, bringing back an abandoned orchard, and raising questions about ownership of land and the importance of ‘common’ land. You can go to the website for the UU Church in the Town of Harvard if you would like to join us next Sunday.

Cultivating Love is part of my new installation for Studios Without Walls exhibit, The Light Gets In, opening on May 28, 2021

Though the Apples, Art, and Spirit blog has been silent in recent months, things are changing. My family has gone through their share of both life and Covid challenges. But we’re coming out on the other side. We’re turning our attention to reopening the farm, taking care of the perennial crops, and planting annual vegetables and flowers.

While weeding the rhubarb I grabbed this fellow. But it did not glide away!

Now we need some cooperation from the weather gods.

Apricots are the earliest blossoming of our fruit trees.

Our apricot tree is in full bloom as are early peaches. It’s likely that we have lost the fruit from these trees. We hope the apples are fine. I’ll be checking on them, and definitely listen to what they have to say.

At the end of my note to John Bunker, I wrote, “Thanks for the reminder. We need each other!”

John quickly wrote back, “Not only do we need each other... we HAVE each other! Hooray!

Yes, we need each other! And we have each other! 

Juggling Flowers, Fruit, and Vegetables

Raspberries, butternut squash, and tomatoes have taken over my Saturday mornings when I would normally write the blog for Sunday. I know how to juggle three balls from my days as a professional mime, but throw in a little art, add some poetry, and the juggling gets even more thrilling.

Our Outdoor Sculpture Exhibit, Around the Pond and through the Woods on the theme of REFUGE continues Thursdays through Sundays, 11 - 4 pm.

Refuge Within, Liz Fletcher: Photo Robert Hesse

Walt Whitman visits the farm on Saturday, September 19th at 2 pm.
We will be hosting a visit from the towering Walt Whitman. If you’ve never seen Stephen Collins’ portrayal of the young, questioning Whitman, as well as the aging brilliant raconteur of love and longing, this is a rare opportunity to enjoy it en plein air. Stephen will be performing in front of the pond near my studio. Flinging Whitman’s words to the open sky makes Whitman’s poetry soar. I imagine even the kingfishers will pause to listen. Seating is limited so RSVP to reserve your seat. Tickets: $15.

Live Plein Air Poetry on Sunday afternoon, September 20th at 3 pm.
Join 26 poets sharing the poems they have written for Refuge, our online chapbook of site-specific poetry, inspired by the fields, pond, garden, trees, and creatures who live at the farm. The Zoom event will feature photographs by Brent Mathison who traced the paths of the poets and captured the glow of their words. Lynn Horsky designed the elegant chapbook. Poetry Editor Susan Edwards Richmond will be our host. You can join the livestream of this event beginning at 3 pm Sunday, at  facebook.com/OldFrogPondFarm and download the chapbook at at: penandanvil.com/hw/chapbooks.  There will be an opportunity to order a digital print copy as well.

On Saturday, September 26th we celebrate Bolton Harvard Open Studios from 10—4 pm.

When the farm season ends, I look forward to returning to more intimate blog post writing. Meanwhile, I hope you are keeping all your balls in the air!

Linda Hoffman, A Mudhead Mime, 1975

Refuge

Last night a friend said, “When I visit the farm it feels like a prayer.” Early this morning I walked through the raspberry patch and picked a pint of nature’s jewels. Each one a gift in the midst of so much uncertainty and suffering.

The farm season is changing. We are preparing to open for visitors. After laboring in the long hot days of summer, the fruits and vegetables, as well as the farmers, are breathing with more ease. The ripening is here, the bounty of nature. Vines are growing upwards heavy with heirloom tomatoes, others are sprawling across the open field landing here and there with juicy melons, while still others, the underground tubers of banana fingerling potatoes, wiggle in the soil.

The earth is alive and producing.

We will open for pick-you-own raspberries in week or so. All details will be posted on our website along with instructions for visiting to insure the safety of visitors and our farmers. Please check before you come. We will use our website opening page to let you know of daily changes.

The Ripening Begins!

Artists also offer sustenance. Old Frog Pond Farm artists have created new sculptures on the theme of Refuge and our annual outdoor exhibit, Around the Pond and Through the Woods, will be open Thursdays through Sundays, 11-4 pm, beginning on September 3.

Monk, Madeleine Lord, welded steel

We’ve also created a few shady groves along the trails where you can take refuge.

Twenty-six poets have written eloquent poems inspired by the farm on the theme of Refuge. We will not host a ‘live’ plein air poetry event this year: the event draws too many people. Instead, we are publishing an online journal and will host a zoom reading with the poets on Sunday, September 20 at 3 pm. Photographer, Brent Mathison is taking photos of the sites that inspired the poets and these will be pinned at the zoom event. More details will follow, but save the date!

Photo for Cattail Blues, Brent Mathison

Cattail Blues
—Didi Chadran

A cool, astringent wind interrupts
A late Spring heatwave, wafting the cattails,
Which sway, shimmer, sway again, resilient.

Graceful, they bend like blue notes picked, plaintive
On a hollow-bodied guitar. They tremolo and
Sustain in an ostinato whisper.

The call-and-response of Schlieren heat and
Tonic gusts croons of heartbreak and new love,
Release and reinvention, poetry

And commerce. The plants’ lot is to shelter,
Protect, and nourish the reeds’ seedlings and
Model resolve against wind, drought, and flood.

Wafting like fingers apoise on the strings
To bend to the future. It brings what it brings.

Our self-serve farm stand will continue to be open seven days a week through October. Kohlrabi, kale, broccoli, and other fall plants are going in the ground. Long-awaited, albeit brief rains, are finally falling and the earth is a little less parched. The weather beings hear our prayers!

Be well and come visit us!

Can you find the one small worm among all these organically grown tomatoes?