Calendars

Calendar was the first word I ever got wrong on a spelling test.  Memory tells me that it was in second grade and that I spelled it calender.  I have never been able to write or type that word since without giving it a second (or third) thought.  But I bet I'm not the only one who has misspelled that word.

I like calendars.  One hangs on my refrigerator, and I probably glance at it every day.  One sits here at my computer desk.  On this one, I write down the titles of these blog posts.  I have had to read through it many times to avoid falling in love with the same thing twice.  And I keep an engagement calendar on the table to keep track of birthdays and appointments and dates that taxes are due.

So I like calendars.  But today, I got to fall in love with a calendar.  This one came in the mail today:

This is a gift from amazing artist and dear friend Angie Falstrom.  (I wrote about Angie's Art back on February 28.  My desk calendar told me that.)  Angie lives in Lyme, Connecticut, that charming New England town that had the great misfortune of having a tick-borne disease named after it.  But Angie does her part to show the world that there is more to Lyme than ticks.  This calendar is illustrated with reproductions of the miniature paintings Angie has done of pastoral locations in her town.  Even the names of the paintings are beautiful:  Winter Morning, Birch Mill Road and Morning at Ashlawn Farm and Afternoon Light, Tiffany Farms.

Unlike the glossy calendars I usually pick up for free at my local liquor store, this one requires a suitable presentation.  I intend to purchase a frame and switch out each month's offering as the year passes.  Angie has an eye for simple beauty, and her artistic renditions of that beauty remind me to be more observant and to seek out the places that calm and inspire me.  For example, take a look at December's illustration.

I cannot look at that painting without feeling the cold or reflecting on the waning light.  There's a peacefulness and a melancholy to it that I find compelling and comforting at the same time.

I almost want to say that I can't wait until next year, but we know that at my age, wishing time away is not something one does.  But at least I have something to look forward to in 2015.