APLACECALLEDMERRYMOUNT

How does one capture the beauty and essence of moonlight? I offer three answers: 1) a photo by Diane Elizabeth, photographer; 2) a poem...

Those of us of a certain age remember a cartoon character named “Woody Woodpecker”,  but who among us knows which order of (Picidae) he...

Like a circle in a spiral. like a wheel within a wheel. Never ending or beginning on an ever spinning reel. Like a snowball down a...

2025 will be remembered by the Woliver Clan as the year our matriarch Dorsey Lou Woliver passed from this life, and the year the newest...

My view of Hubbard Lake looking East As I sat in my lawn chair gazing out at Hubbard Lake, the following lyrics came to mind. Roll out...

One of the great joys of summer at Merry Mount is watching the swallows glide across the pasture as we mow on the zero-turn, or as we sit...

July 25, 2025 “aplacecalledmerrymount”   Sometimes during moments of solitude, I ponder the lives of others who lived in this old house before us. There is very little written about this place before we became its occupants on July 25, 2013, but I have looked into Madison County records and have gathered stories from the memories of Gary Self and Dave Junk. On this occasion, I offer you some of the history of this place we call Merry Mount. You’ve read the story of Merry M

Holding a bowl of plenty over his head, displaying a broad smile, and exposing a big belly mirrored in a crystal ball, the world is his oyster. As I observe and identify with "The Happy Buddha", I also realize that the vastness of our universe and all that it contains is interpreted by a biological mass between my ears called my “brain”, and without it, nothing outside of it would exist. My happiness is a state of mind. Evan Harris Walker from his book, The Physics of Consci

This week, Americans will celebrate the signing of the “Declaration of Independence” that officially formed our nation.  It took Thomas...

Hubbard Lake, Michigan The Lake Isle of Innisfree I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree, And a small cabin build there, of clay...

Michelangelo's "The Creation of Man" June 15, 2025 Let’s begin with KJV: Matthew I, verses 1&2 and 17: The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham begat  Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat  Judas and his brethren …etc… So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying into Babylon unto Christ are fou

6/8/25 Today I echo a shout out from my daughter Caroline. Justice flows in our blood, for Caroline's paternal grandmother's maiden name...

5/31/25 Yesterday was a glorious day at Hubbard Lake, Michigan: cloudless blue skies, a steady breeze, 65 degrees, a perfect day for a...

Here is the story of how the red field poppy came to be known as an internationally recognized symbol of Remembrance. From its...

As a family, we call ourselves the “Nautical Bunch” and we consist of a full-sized bed, a chest of drawers, and a dresser with a mirror...

5/11/25 Today will be bitter/sweet. I will enjoy a family brunch celebrating three wonderful mothers and will revel as their children...

Dogwoods, daffodils, and dandelions, Oh my! Blessed are those who live in the hills and valleys of love and delight. 'Tis the gift to be...

People across the world this week are mourning the loss of Pope Francis, who died on April 20,2025 at the age of 88.  “He was a Pope among the people, with an open heart towards everyone,” Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re said in the homily. “The guiding thread of his mission was also the conviction that the church is a home for all, a home with its doors always open.” “I am not a believer, but what Francis said always touched my soul,” one woman in Rome said. “I felt his human

April this Year (After Millay) April this year, is otherwise   Than Aprils from long ago; Full of tears, and full of sighs,   Unlike days with smiles aglow. Dogwoods that pleased us so Are a sight for other eyes. Memories invade me throughout the day,   My grief follows me through the doors; In orchards near and far away   Bluebirds look for you and mourn;   I earnestly try to do my chores, But daffodils stop me as they sway. Life surrounds me full and deep,   Noisy and quiet

Dad holding me while Mother looks on, circa 1953. from Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry “And now, nearing the end, I see that my life is...