WildLives: A Letter to Susan Tweit

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Dear Susan ... It is New Year's Eve, a cold, wintry day and I am listening to your CD WildLives while some holiday shortbread is baking.  What a lovely surprise to receive the compilation--thank you for this unexpected gift.

A few hours ago, when I decided to do some baking, I searched among the few recipes I brought with me when I left the ranch in the Black Hills six years ago, but the shortbread recipe was not among them.  The recipe had been my college roommate's, passed onto her by her Scottish grandmother.  A much treasured thing, it was handed over to me with a certain amount of ceremony and was probably the first holiday cookie on which my children cut their toddler teeth. 

But today I had to phone a dear friend in the Black Hills to retrieve a copy of the recipe, an especially poignant reminder that sometimes we must leave behind the things we cherish most.   

As I listen to the WildLives CD, I hear your confident, soft voice speak about the pungent fragrances of juniper and piñon, yet it is the scent of of sweet butter baking that I smell, a warm, delicate fragrance--like the best of our memories, yes?  Fleeting, but intimately familiar to each and every cell of our body.

I wish for you and Richard this coming year an abundance of delicate, melt-in-your mouth experiences, served up with laughter and smiles and all the dears friends who have traveled this journey with you. 

I am reminded that though the place we call home may change, we may always choose to create a home wherever we are.  Perhaps that is the greatest gift of all.

Blessings, and Happy New Year to all of you.
Page

Note: This is a slightly expanded version of the original letter.  To purchase WildLives: Celebrating the World Around Us, or listen to an excerpt, click here.  Contact Page for her shortbread recipe.
 
An advisor for the Rocky Mountain Land Library and member of the International League of Conservation Writers, Page Lambert has been writing about the western landscape and leading nature retreats in the West for twenty years. Founding member of Women Writing the West, member of Wyoming Writers and Colorado Authors’ League, Lambert’s writing can be found inside monumental sculptures at the Denver Art Museum, online at Huffington Post, and inside the pages of dozens of anthologies. Page designs and teaches graduate writing courses for the University of Denver’s University College. Recent published works include “Not for Sale” (Langscape Magazine and “The Rural West,” included in Fulcrum’s new book, The Light Shines from the West. Forthcoming are 3 poems in DoveTails: Writing for Peace. Page writes All Things Literary/All Things Natural from her mountain home west of Denver.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Page, What a beautiful New Year's gift! Thank you. I'm honored by your words, and especially touched that your were baking shortbread. It's my favorite. May this year bring you the gifts you need to walk your path in joy and reach many hearts as you go... Blessings!
January 1, 2011 at 9:43 AM
Page Lambert said…
Susan, I'd love to include a photo of WildLives. Can you send me a jpg? I couldn't copy the one on your site. Thanks!
January 1, 2011 at 10:01 AM
Pat Sanders said…
Beautiful!
January 2, 2011 at 1:21 PM
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