It’s a special kind of person who can find meaning in the seemingly pointless, never-ceasing task of daily bed-making. Peggy Freydberg does just that in the first pages of Poems from the Pond, a recently published collection of her poems, all of which she wrote between the ages View More

It’s a special kind of person who can find meaning in the seemingly pointless, never-ceasing task of daily bed-making.
Peggy Freydberg does just that in the first pages of Poems from the Pond, a recently published collection of her poems, all of which she wrote between the ages of 90 and 106.
“It’s the ultimate lesson in mindfulness,” says author and producer Laurie David, who edited the book. “I now look at the task of making your bed as a gift the day is giving to you. That’s how she did. Making the bed is no longer something you do out of drudgery, it’s something you do out of celebration of waking up.” (With every crease and fluff.)

Meet Peggy Freydberg

David discovered Freydberg after writer-educator and NPR commentator Nancy Aronie organized a small reading of her poems on Martha’s Vineyard last year. Freydberg was 106 at the time, and when David heard her read, she decided the words needed to be shared with the world. “I knew I had to put it together really fast because my dream was to be able to hand it to her,” she says.
Seven months later Poems from the Pondwas published, and while Freydberg didn’t make it to the official publication date, David did get to show her a copy of the finished pages before she passed away at 107. Since then, the book sold out a first printing almost right away (a second just hit shelves) and has been endorsed and read from by people like U.S. poet laureate Billy Collins and actress Meg Ryan.
I picked it up and read it cover to cover in days, dogearing pages as I found verse after verse that spoke to me. “We’re all struggling with these issues of loss and aging and anxiety and fear, and she addresses all these things in her poems,” David says. She does it by spotting beauty in the mundane and big truths in life’s smallest struggles in a visionary way. A poem about a lost hair comb, for instance, is also a treatise on attachment and searching for answers. And, of course, the bed-making.
Inspired to stop complaining about crumpled sheets?

Read “Chorus of Cells,” here. —Lisa Elaine Held

Chorus of Cells
Excerpted from Poems from the Pond, by Peggy Freydberg
Every morning,
even being very old,
(or perhaps because of it),
I like to make my bed.
In fact, the starting of each day
unhelplessly,
is the biggest thing I ever do.
I smooth away the dreams disclosed by tangled sheets,
I smack the dented pillow’s revelations to oblivion,
I finish with the pattern of the spread exactly centered.
The night is won.
And now the day can open.
All this I like to do,
mastering the making of my bed
with hands that trust beginnings.
All this I need to do,
directed by the silent message
of the luxury of my breathing.
And every night,
I like to fold the covers back,
and get in bed,
and live the dark, wise poetry of the night’s dreaming,
dreading the extent of its improbabilities,
but surrendering to the truth it knows and I do not;
even though its technicolor cruelties,
or the music of its myths,
feels like someone else’s experience,
not mine.
I know that I could no more cease
to want to make my bed each morning,
and fold the covers back at night,
than I could cease
to want to put one foot before the other.
Being very old and so because of it,
all this I am compelled to do,
day after day,
night after night,
directed by the silent message
of the constancy of my breathing,
that bears the news I am alive.
(Photo: Eli Dagostino)

…..SPRING is COMING!     Have A Happy Weekend!!!

…..SPRING is COMING!

Have A Happy Weekend!!!

“Design is coming to grips with one’s real lifestyle, one’s real place in the world. Rooms should not be put together for show but to nourish one’s wellbeing.”-Albert Hadley Beverly Taylor Design

“Design is coming to grips with one’s real lifestyle, one’s real place in the world.
Rooms should not be put together for show but to nourish one’s wellbeing.”-Albert Hadley

Beverly Taylor Design

While watching a Sunday night movie (You’ve Got Mail), I realized that all my favorite romantic comedies have awesome interiors. Can’t be a coincidence. Maybe we love these movies because they’re cute, funny AND they look good. Casual and elegant   The Ultimate Beach House   Who can View More

While watching a Sunday night movie (You’ve Got Mail), I realized that all my favorite romantic comedies have awesome interiors. Can’t be a coincidence. Maybe we love these movies because they’re cute, funny AND they look good.

Casual and elegant

Kathleen Kelly’s apartment, You’ve Got Mail

The Ultimate Beach House

House in the Hamptons, Something’s Gotta Give

Who can forget the house from Father of the Bride?

Living Room, Father of the Bride

Layered neutrals and linens make this so chic and natural.

Bedroom, It’s Complicated

Posted by Intern Bailey

These five bar stools allow for informal kitchen dining and can double as extra seating anywhere in the house.   The swivel seat makes for easy conversation.   We love this French style for its caned back/handsome leather combo.     Good for small spaces. It almost disappears. View More

These five bar stools allow for informal kitchen dining and can double as extra seating anywhere in the house.

The swivel seat makes for easy conversation.

Wyndham Swivel, Arteriors

We love this French style for its caned back/handsome leather combo.

Vintage French Cane Back Round Leather, Restoration Hardware

Good for small spaces. It almost disappears.

Vapor, CB2

Back in the Saddle again! This time at the kitchen island.

Saddle Bar Stool, West Elm

 The shape, the cow hide, the brass. Simply love.

Calvin, Arteriors

Posted by Intern Bailey

You can bench in an entryway or at the foot of a bed. Wherever you choose to bench, make sure you do it in style. Posted by Intern Bailey

You can bench in an entryway or at the foot of a bed. Wherever you choose to bench, make sure you do it in style.

Spindle Bench, Jayson Home

Knox Bench, Dwell Studio

Tufted Bench, West Elm

Transitional Bench, Elte

Posted by Intern Bailey

Can you believe ginger jars are in style? They’ve been back for a couple years now. As a child my dad had these all over the house, and I hated them. These days I think they lend a well traveled, collected look to a space.    Can you View More

Can you believe ginger jars are in style? They’ve been back for a couple years now. As a child my dad had these all over the house, and I hated them. These days I think they lend a well traveled, collected look to a space.

Available at blackandspiro.com.au

 Can you spot the ginger jar in this picture?

On a coffee table with colorful flowers…

At a desk

I wonder if my dad still has any of these lying around the house. I hope so.

Posted by Intern Bailey