Marian was always a soft-spoken one who learned by looking.

She watched Sargent care for the estate, meals being magicked in the big kitchen, and community customs as she delivered eggs with her mother. She quietly watched everything

During the Pickle years (as I think of the era when she was accompanied by a dachshund), her passion for Nature Inspired her to find her full voice in writing. She was compelled to speak up for the beauty that surrounded her and Pickle in their neighborhood and beyond. All this I know from her many articles and letters to the editor as she crusaded for the preservation of field, pond and woodlands, her true family.

Later Marian developed a routine that suited her well. Coffee salon at Garelik and Herb, where she was often joined by a friend or frenemy, or my partner and me, for a few good laughs. When the coffee shop moved, she retired home, and her screened-in porch became her salon while keeping her close to nature.

As time passed, her life became ever more a part of her surrounding environment. She moved through her days in the garden where communities of birds, insects, and small wildlife were seasonal visitors. Her days ended with a move inside, portable radio in hand, pouring forth classical music, as she anticipated nights with her beloved friend, the moon.

She was at peace in her habitat as she shifted into her elder years, still finding amusement easy and welcoming visitors. There on that screened porch I sat with her and a pitcher of iced tea, catching up on the present, taking ever more frequent excursions into the past, and taking great pleasure in her whimsical garment selections, which were certainly a nod to her membership in the bird clan.

I am certain she now, and will continue to, send us greeting and song through the clan.