alexandrastoddard

Welcome

I love to connect with my readers, and in my monthly newsletter, I share my thoughts, updates about events, a discussion of what I've been reading, stories from life in Connecticut, and much more. Feel free to browse my past newsletters and stop by at the beginning of each month to read my latest note to you.

Latest Newsletter

Alexandra sitting amid the hydrangeas in her garden.

Photo by Elissa

In my favorite place, amid the hydrangeas.

August 2022

8/1/2022

I love you!

Happy August! I feel blessed to write this newsletter for you each month. I have known since I was a young girl that letters are indeed gifts we give ourselves. The pleasure I derive from corresponding with you is indescribably delicious. I’m forever grateful we are staying in touch.

Letters are specific, intimate and immediate. I’ve written about the one book that changed my life: Letters to a Young Poet, by Rilke. He teaches us to live the questions. “And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer.”

The correspondence between these two poets is brilliant. The young poet asks Rilke if his poems are any good. Rilke’s reply to the searching young poet—go inward. The deepest questions any of us can ask ultimately must ...

December 2002

12/1/2002

I hope your heart is full of Thanksgiving cheer and you feel that you have abundant blessings in your life.

Peter and I count you as healers and friends. The outpouring of loving energy continues to uplift us, inspire us and is working magically. Thanks to a wonderful and talented ...

November 2002

11/1/2002

Can you imagine how much the following letter warmed my heart, especially under these difficult circumstances? As our lives have been suddenly confined to a few rooms in our New York apartment because of Peter’s injury, we’re acutely aware how precious life is, how important it is to ...

October 2002

10/1/2002

Peter and I enjoyed some peaceful happy days at the cottage in September, savoring sparkling sunny days with low humidity. The sunsets were awesome in their spectacular colors. As sky meets water when the sun touches down, we experience a miraculous sight, a promise of nature's continuity. Fall is ...

September 2002

9/1/2002

I think of this month as a time of new beginnings, being given a clean, clear fresh start. As children go back to school, we go back to work, inspired by time shared with family and friends, grateful for time in the garden, at the beach, on the water and ...

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