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Between the Covers at Covered Treasures Bookstore – Poetry month

By the staff at Covered Treasures

“Poetry is language at its most distilled and most powerful.”—Rita Dove

April is National Poetry Month! Reading poetry can engage all the senses and is one reason many children’s picture books are written in poetry form. This month we feature poetry for all ages, written by nationally known authors as well as some talented local poets.

You Are Here; Poetry in the Natural World
Ada Limon, Editor (Milkweed Editions) $25

You Are Here book cover

This sparkling curated collection was edited by Ada Limón, the 24th U.S. poet laureate. It is in honor of the natural world and all it means to be humans living within it. The poems selected for inclusion can be appreciated by experienced poetry lovers as well as by those who are just beginning to learn to appreciate the art of poetry.

Coffee Cup Tales & Old Car Nuts
By Lon Wartman $16

The witty, truthful, and sometimes outrageous poems in this book came about through Wartman’s involvement with Tri-Lakes Cruisers Car Club. The Cruisers meet once a week at the Coffee Cup Café and the stories flow. The group is full of men and women from all walks of life who share a deep love of old vehicles, dreams of yesteryears, and backseat blues. Come along for the ride.

The Divine Book of Love
Mary Burnett Brown (Heartfelt Poetry LLC) $10

Brown’s poetry is a key that opens your heart to deep spiritual wisdom. Through her poetry, you will find peace and happiness. Her poems encourage you to pause for a moment and embrace all the beauty and love that are present in this world.

Having Lived
By Joseph Murphy (Kelsay Books) $13

This is a wonderful collection of strong, authentic poems that range from moving elegies and lyric poems of homecoming and longing to personal histories retold as narratives full of irony. Common to all these works is a collection of shared sentiments from our times. Murphy’s subtle grasp of our contemporary lives will have a wide audience appeal.

Red Sings from Treetops; A Year in Colors
By Joyce Sidman; illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski (Clarion Books) $19

Color comes alive in this whimsical, innovative picture book: blue dances on summer lakes, green drips from spring leaves, black wafts mysteriously through autumn evenings. Together an award-winning poet and a brilliant artist inspire us to look closer at the thrilling colors of the seasons. This book invites readers to notice colors and correlate emotion.

Devotions: The Selected Poems of Mary Oliver
By Mary Oliver (Penguin Books) $20

Carefully curated, these 200-plus poems feature Oliver’s work from her very first book of poetry, No Voyage and Other Poems, published in 1963 at the age of 28, through her most recent collection, Felicity, published in 2015. This timeless volume, arranged by Oliver, showcases the beloved poet at her edifying best. Within these pages, she provides us with an extraordinary and invaluable collection of her passionate, perceptive, and much-treasured observations of the natural world.

Tiny, Perfect Things
By M. H. Clark (Compendium Publishing) $18

The whole world is a treasure waiting to be found. Open your eyes and see the wonderful things all around. This is the story of a child and a grandfather whose walk around the neighborhood leads to a day of shared wonder as they discover all sorts of tiny, perfect things together. With rhythmic storytelling and detailed and intricate illustrations, this is a book about how childlike curiosity can transform ordinary days into extraordinary adventures.

I Knew You Could Do It!
By Nancy Tillman (Feiwel & Friends) $18

This picture book is a celebration of everyday accomplishments as well as life’s milestones. It applauds anyone who has overcome hurdles and challenges, and cheers them into the future. It’s for anyone who needs an infusion of support and reassurance. The book is full of bright, wonderful illustrations that make you believe in the magic that cheers you on.

Conversations with Flowers
By Valerie Shereck (Austin Macauley Publishers) $8

This little poetry book is a tapestry where the author weaves reflections on nature, the sting of loss, the intricacies of relationships, and the myriad hues of life. These poems not only celebrate the rejuvenating power of faith but also resonate and linger long after the last word is read.

Until next month, happy reading.

The staff at Covered Treasures can be reached at books@ocn.me.

Other Between the Covers articles

April Library Events – National Library Week – Newly extended hours in Monument

By Harriet Halbig

The week of April 8 is National Library Week. In commemoration, the Monument Library will hold an open house on Tuesday, April 9, from 6 to 8 p.m. Enjoy dessert platters from Lolly’s Ice Cream, a program of Irish dancers from Rose Courtney Academy of Irish Dance at 7 p.m., and a scavenger hunt with a prize of a family fun pack from Dave and Buster’s.

There will be a planetarium-themed escape room for teens on April 16 from 5 to 6 p.m. The program, Back to the Planetarium, is open to ages 12 to 18. Registration is required. Please go to the library website ppld.org and then programs by location. Or call 719-531-6333 extension 7005.

The tween Dungeons and Dragons Club, for ages 9 to 12, will meet on May 4 from 4 to 5:30. No experience is required and new members are welcome. Registration is required at 719-531-6333 extension 7005.

Please note that the Monument Library is now open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Thursdays.

We hope to see you at our open house!

Harriet Halbig may be reached at harriethalbig@ocn.me.

Other Library articles

Palmer Lake Historical Society, Mar. 21 – Presentation on Monument Cemetery

By Marlene Brown

The Palmer Lake Historical Society (PLHS) March meeting began with introduction of 2024 President Jennine Engel, a longtime resident whose family is from Palmer Lake. Then Doug Lange, treasurer, presented a $500 check on behalf of PLHS to Sue Cook as a grant to the Spring Valley Cemetery. It is another pioneer cemetery located off County Line Road in Douglas County.

The next presentation was a charcoal drawing of Catherine McShane, wife of David McShane, one of the first homesteaders in 1865 in the Town of Palmer Lake. There has been a charcoal drawing of David McShane hanging in Lucretia Vaille Museum, but recently the picture of Catherine was found in the frame and hidden behind David’s picture. What a surprise!

The March program The Monument Cemetery was presented by John Howe and Michael Weinfeld. Howe is a member of the board for Our Community News and a former member of the Monument Board of Trustees. He has worked on many volunteer projects around town. He has worked on the cemetery project for 14 of the 18 years that he has lived in Monument, working tirelessly to find the names on plots and tombstones and identify where the information had gotten lost or misplaced. Weinfeld has worked on the project for the last six years alongside of Howe. He is one of the editors of Our Community News and was an Associated Press reporter in Washington, D.C., for 37 years.

On May 28, 1886, Charles Bissel sold 5 acres of land, where the cemetery is located, to the Town of Monument for one dollar. There were many graves already in the cemetery, including the oldest grave, that of Alonzo Welty who died in 1860.

As many people had already been buried in the cemetery without markers or anyone knowing their names, many graves were marked “unknown.” There was train wreck in 1909 near the town of Husted, which was between south of the North Gate of the Air Force Academy and Interquest Boulevard. Twelve people died and 60 were injured in the accident. Many of the dead were were buried as unknowns in the Monument Cemetery. As Howe pointed out, “They did not have ID’s or Social Security cards or anything that would identify them”.

In 2016, Boy Scout Kent Griffith heard that many of the unknown tombstones made of plaster of Paris were crumbling. To earn his Eagle Scout badge, he directed the installation of 128 unknown gravestones made of granite to replace the crumbling markers. The Town of Monument holds ceremonies on Memorial Day and Veterans Days to honor the veterans who are buried there.

As a side note, members of my family are pioneers of the area. Four great-grandparents, two grandparents, two parents, a great-great-grandmother, and several uncles of mine are buried in Monument Cemetery. We also have several pioneer relatives buried in Spring Valley.

Above: Monument Cemetery entrance at 800 Beacon Lite Rd. Photo by Michael Weinfeld.
Above: Monument Cemetery entrance at 800 Beacon Lite Rd. Photo by Michael Weinfeld.

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Meetings are usually held on the third Thursday of the month at the Palmer Lake Town Hall, 42 Valley Crescent, Palmer Lake. The next meeting will be from 7 to 8 p.m. April 18 (doors open at 6:30 p.m.) The program will be History of the Pikes Peak Trolleys by John Haney. Haney is founder of the Pikes Peak Trolley and Restoration Shop. Open and free to the public.

For more information about future presentations and membership, go to www.palmerdividehistory.org.

Marlene Brown can be reached at marlenebrown@ocn.me .

Other Palmer Lake Historical Society articles

On the Trail (in memory of Tim Watkins) – Mount Herman “Leap”

By Steve Pate

Occasionally I saw the term, “grid day,” mentioned by Randy Phillips on social media. I was not sure what this meant until I learned that Phillips intended to summit Mount Herman on Feb. 29 to complete his grid—summitting Mount Herman on every calendar day of the year. This meant that he had the chance to complete his “grid” only every four years when a Leap Year rolled around.

Hiking up Mount Herman on February 29, 2024.
Above: Group photo on Broken Ankle Trail to Mount Herman. Photo by Randy Phillips. 

So, on Thursday, Feb. 29 (Leap Day), Phillips and 24 supporters ascended Mount Herman via the Broken Ankle Trail and celebrated Phillips’s completion of his goal on all 366 calendar days.

Steve Pate can be contacted at stevepate@ocn.me

Other On the Trail articles

High Altitude Nature and Gardening (HANG) – Garden helps, bloopers, and dangers

By Janet Sellers

April for gardeners

April still gets lots of cold weather that can kill garden plants that don’t have their organic systems at work. The organic garden has a natural pace for give-and-take with microorganisms that plants depend on for life. The microcosm of organic organisms survives cold weather dormancy but doesn’t get going until the soil climate is right for activity at specific temperatures. Many use frost cloth for temperature and harsh weather protection into the summer season.

Music from nature

Last month, I shared that bird songs and classical music have a profound effect on plants. Human speech also plays a part. But overstimulation—especially from loud or strident music—is harmful to the plant, also true for other living things like people and animals. Bird song sound frequencies can also have a calming effect on plants, reducing stress and improving their ability to cope with environmental factors such as temperature changes or pests.

Geyser concertos

An article in the Washington Post reported on a computer program coded by Domenico Vicinanza, a particle physicist and composer at Britain’s Anglia Ruskin University, that converted geyser underground tremors into a musical score, and flutist Alyssa Schwartz performed a musical score generated by seismic readings recorded at Yellowstone’s Mary Lake, Wyo.

I found out about music-like frequencies created in nature that humans cannot hear but birds, animals and plants can. To explore that this spring, I got a midi device that puts plant frequencies into frequencies we can hear.

Not for the birds

Human hair can tangle on a bird’s feet or legs, cutting off circulation. Avoid soft fluffy pet fur taken from the undercoat of a pet, or very fine fur like pet rabbit fur. These may soak up water – it’s dangerous to nests – so compost these and enrich the soil with no harm to any creature. Any pet hair should be used only from pets that have not received flea or tick treatments.

Silver bullets? Don’t drink snow!

Colorado allows licensed cloud seeding of silver iodide for ski resorts and farming. If you try to burn a snowball and it turns black, that’s silver iodide, (a chemical regulated by the Clean Water Act as a hazardous substance) which is used across the globe and linked to various weather issues. Studies show concerns regarding bioaccumulation, citing pros and cons of this weather control strategy.

Local herbs

Our bodies are exposed to heavy metals every day via food, water, pharmaceuticals, manufactured products, pollution, and more. The National Institute for Health shares that we can use these to help detox from heavy metals. We can grow cilantro, cumin, dandelion, and milk thistle. Red clover and turmeric are good but not locally grown.

Janet Sellers is a holistic gardening nature lover and welcomes your garden tips at JanetSellers@ocn.me

Other High Altitude and Nature Gardening articles