“I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.”

The Poem

Two poems by Wendell Berry

The Peace of Wild Things

When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

Why

Why all the embarrassment
about being happy?
Sometimes I’m as happy
as a sleeping dog,
and for the same reasons,
and for others.

The Beverage
Cider and Bourbon

Originally appeared in this newsletter as “Bourbon & Cider.” I live in DC again, and the weather is weird. This is still what I’m drinking.

Reprint:

Bourbon & Cider

Here in Wisconsin, fall is upon us. I’m not quite ready for hot drinks because I will have months of winter for those. This is a drink for lazy people who enjoy liquor. I am both lazy and enjoy liquor.

Instructions:

Pour some bourbon in a glass. As much as you’d like.

(I usually buy Bulleit. That’s just what I’m used to buying. Use what you like. It can be regular whiskey. Doesn’t matter, honestly. I also pour a stiff drink. I’m not bragging or even humblebragging, it’s just a quality I have. I also have a knack for ordering the booziest drink on every menu, like the one that’s just a bunch of alcohols mixed together.)

Pour cider on top. Stir or don’t.

(I like a local, unfiltered cider — the kind that tastes like an orchard — but again, use what you like. Trader Joe’s also has a really good unfiltered cider from Honeycrisp apples. That’s what is in my fridge right now.)

Then drink it. You’ll probably want two.