The Book of Stillmeadow

This is the story of Stillmeadow, a farmhouse and the 40 acres it stands on, give or take a few acres.  It was built in 1690 in Southbury, Connecticut, and when Gladys Taber bought it in 1933 it was almost 250 years old.  Gladys Taber was a writer, not a farmer.  She graduated from Wellesley in 1920, and then received her masters at Lawrence College.  She went on to write over 50 books and was a long time contributor to The Ladies' Home Journal and Family Circle magazines.  She also taught creative writing at Columbia University. She was quite an accomplished woman. But as a resident of New York City she dreamed of weekends in the country with her husband and daughter, lounging about on the sun soaked grass. The Book of Stillmeadow is filled with Gladys' musings of her time in the country and the bigger picture of life before and after WWII.  It is funny how little things really change...

"I know of nothing to compare with the welcome a dog gives you when you come home.  If I go to the village for half an hour, I am welcomed with a regular silver jubilee on my return. And there's never any reproach for my having gone.  None of the 'Well, I thought you never would get back; you certainly were gone a long time--we nearly gave you up.' Only joyful excitement as the spaniels say, 'How marvelous you are! Look, she's back again! Let's celebrate!'" (Sounds like my dogs!)

"I sometimes wonder what women do who never can work at a simple, humble physical task when they are sad.  What do they do in the Waldorf-Astoria when life hurts them?" (Self-medicate?)

"There are two distinct schools of thought about Christmas gifts. One school believes gifts must be luxuries, never anything you need.  The other believe people should get what they actually and badly need.  I veer wildly between the two schools. I indulge in a useless gadget like a box of sachet, and proceed to stockings and underwear.  Books go to my head like strong drink, because books belong in both categories.  Who could live without them?" (SO TRUE!!)

"We don't have much to say about what the new year will bring.  We have learned to go on the best we can, and be thankful for whatever we have.  Nothing, I thought, looking around the fire lit circle, can take away from anyone on earth the love of his or her dear ones.  You can't blow up love with a bomb, or shoot it down with a machine gun.  Courage remains stronger than fire or sword.  Loyalty lies too deep for depth charges to shatter it...The real things go on." (Appropriate for the 4th of July!)

The Book of Stillmeadow is filled with timeless observations about life, whether you find yourself in the country or in the city.  It is currently out of print, but I found mine on Amazon.com for about $9.00. (It was an old library book!)  I hope you can find it without too much trouble, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.  Thanks for the recommendation, Rosemary!