High Line Stories

Oh Yes! Amid the light and shadow play of the High Line, Karen De Mauro is doing interactive stories for the very young and their caregivers on July 19th from 10-11:30 AM. Come celebrate summer as we dance, wiggle, sing and story along in this wonderful space between earth and sky. Go to "High Line Kids" to get the special location.

Accompaniment Matters

At Orion Magazine's Wildbranch Writers' Workshop, the practice of craft occurs in community. And this year the sense of a shared process was palpable. Accompaniment by good writers who share similar concerns nourishes those of us who work diligently to "Only Connect" as E. M. Forster urged. Though I can, in fact, write anywhere now, it sure does help to be in a conducive environment. Here deep thought about what matters is part of breakfast conversations, birding is a part of every morning, and the sows at the foot of the hill remind me that, as Galway Kinnell says, " . . . sometimes it is necessary/ to reteach a thing it's loveliness". For years I chose to work in isolation as a writer. But now, I am deeply heartened and helped by this rich community of voices, each unique, and each a different kind of spokesperson.

Nature Arts Thrive on Long Island

Rachel Carson Musical
At the grand opening of the Seatuck Environmental Center, dancing performers in Naturestage’s “Rachel Carson’s Sense of Wonder” enchanted the audience and transformed them into participants, demonstrating that artistic engagement deepens our dialogue with the “more than human world.”















Storytellers Gather
Karen De Mauro also joined internationally renowned storytellers Heather Forest and Doug Elliott in an environmental workshop and field trips that blended story, personal memory, site history, and science to make nature encounters resonate on multiple levels.

Fresh View of NY on The High Line

For a change of perspec-tive, a burst of hope, and a living testament to renewal and restoration visit the High Line. This resurrected former railroad near the Hudson is awash in seasonal plantings and the energy of new beginnings. Naturestages' new project, THE HIGH LINE STORIES interweaves urban legends of plants, people, and history to celebrate this great new vantage point on the urban nature of NY. Thanks to everyone who made this happen and keeps it going.

Preservation and restoration are themes running through many activities in the coming months. So many dedicated people continue contribute time, money, and the gifts of their talent to transforming what has been neglected and to maintaining what matters. From Seatuck Environmental Association's new Nature Center on Long Island to Central Park's fallen trees clean-up crews, good work is happening everywhere.

Haiku Hut continues to encourage local contributors' on Long Island and Orion Magazine's Wildbranch Workshop is an out and out gift to natural history writers like Karen De Mauro.

Interactive Nature Arts Thrive

The theme of "the return" is moving through these days, and it is a return that both refreshes and renews. When I return to any beloved place I am not the same person who first encountered the place. In the reciprocal dance of place shaping people and people shaping place, I continue to marvel at the pull certain places exert on me. On Schoodic Peninsula at Acadia National Park 30 people co-created "Rachel Carson's Sense of Wonder" this year. And Alley Pond, Center Street School and the glorious Ship's Company Theatre in Parrsborro, Nova Scotia also hosted performances. These experiences deepened my belief that when we participate with nature as a way of deepening our relationship to her, we thrive. For my 60th birthday, I returned to Sliver Bay on Lake George, New York and was filled with gratitude for the gifts it continues to give.

Speaking of thriving, Haiku Hut is now in in its 2nd year and the neighborhood poems posted on its lovely tree trunk bring a sense of community to Sea Cliff.

And my work in"presentation skills" with the students in The Nature Conservancy Program enriches my life. In this time of uncertainty and change in the outer world, the daily celebration of appreciating the extra-ordinary beauty around and within gives me hope and sustains my spirit.

Welcome to "The Singing Mailman"

In addition to maintaining and contributing to "Haiku Hut", Kenny K, "The Singing Mailman" is on a composing roll! After trying out new songs in Locust Valley, Ken is playing away on topics from time to trips. Sample songs will soon be available on this blog.

Haiku Hut welcomes spring in with all kinds of new projects especially "Nature Days", a great outdoor romp with fifty 5th graders in the open air.

Haiku Hut Intro

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