The days are short, / The sun a spark
Hung thin between / The dark and dark.
Fat snowy footsteps / Track the floor,
And parkas pile up / Near the door.
The river is / A frozen place
Held still beneath / The trees’ black lace.
The sky is low. / The wind is gray.
The radiator / Purrs all day.”
― John Updike (American novelist, poet and literary critic, 1932 – 2009; in A Child’s Calendar)
Shared by Betty Hanselman
Gardener’s wife (& January joy seeker)
“I will understandproblem solving, self-exploration, decision making, number relationships, structures, complex vocabulary, healthy living, cause and effect, creativity, imaginative thinking, and my natural world when I am big, because I play outside when I am little.” (According to www.HowWeeLearn.com)
In 2026, make outside play a greater part of your daily routine!
Joyfully shared by Betty Hanselman
Gardener’s wife (& outdoor play celebrant)
“Farewell, old year; we walk no more together;
I catch the sweetness of thy latest sigh…
Here in the dim light of a grey December
We part in smiles, and yet we met in tears;
Watching thy chilly dawn, I well remember…”
~Sarah Doudney (British author and poet; 1841 – 1926)
Gratefully shared by Betty Hanselman
Gardener’s wife (& thankful time traveler)
It has been our privilege to share garden joy with you through these regular posts and in the gardens you’ve allowed us to create for many of you!
At this beautiful and meaningful time of year, we extend our gratitude for your trust and friendship and look forward to seeing you here again in 2026!
Your friends at Hanselman Landscape & Gardens
“On the first day of winter,
the earth awakens to the cold touch of itself.
Snow knows no other recourse except
this falling, this sudden letting go
over the small gnomed bushes, all the emptying trees.
Snow puts beauty back into the withered and malnourished,
into the death-wish of nature and the deliberate way
winter insists on nothing less than deference.
waiting all its life, snow says, “Let me cover you.”
~ Laura Lush (Contemporary Canadian professor and poet)
Shared by Betty Hanselman
Gardener’s wife (& “snow beauty” seeker)
Snow enhances the beauty of these live works of art, shaped for many years at our nursery and care for in our clients’ gardens by Hanselman Landscape’s dedicated tree sculptors.
Gladly shared by Betty Hanselman
Gardener’s wife (& garden art aficionado)
