| Wake up to Spring! Wake up! Come outside to see The blossoms on the cherry tree. White blooms on cherry, pink on plum, The sun is shining, oh, do come! Now come outside, the sun is high, The air is warm and blue the sky. The daffodil and tulips bright, Yellow and red are quite a sight! Well, how about now, will you come out? The birds are flying all about. Oh come to sit beneath the tree To hear them sing so joyfully! The sun is setting in the west, The birds have retired to their nest. But you can still come out to sit, Enjoy the cool night air a bit. Oh, why didn't you listen to me, Why did you not come out to see? It was such a glorious Spring day! Maybe tomorrow, you say? -MW Hope Springs Eternal Every year around Thanksgiving, I plant bulbs. Into the ground go daffodils of many types and colors, grape hyacinths and irises. Tulips can only be planted in the backyard, as deer consider them a delicacy. This planting is often done on a cold, wintry day, when I would rather be inside, so I have to talk myself into going outside to plant. The air is cold, and my hands become numb. My feet, clad in moccasins, soon become wet. But I persist, knowing from experience the payoff that will come. Next comes the period of waiting. December is cold, but I am busy with holiday preparations and then family visits. I pay little attention to the garden. Come the New Year, I am tired of the festivities and weary of the cold, dark days. I begin to long for Spring. Lo and behold, one January day, I see the bulbs poking their heads above the ground. A few have already grown tall. And on a warm, sunny day, the paperwhite narcissi burst into bloom. For a week or two, their heady aroma fills the air as their white heads appear everywhere in the garden. Early Spring arrives in February. The bulbs, along with the tulip tree, are the first in the garden to herald Spring. After the white narcissi come the various yellow daffodils: small ones with red centers, large dark yellow ones, others with white outer petals and lemon yellow inner leaves. The hyacinths bloom as well, offering a dark blue background to the yellows. And last, come the irises. I love coming home on a rainy day to see yellow daffodils greeting me. The garden seems so much brighter. I once was a Kindergarten teacher. I often noted the same phenomenon in my classroom. In the Autumn, I took the students I was given and tried to plant in them the desire to learn. At first, it was hard. They were not used to school; they got tired, they got hungry, they wanted to have their own way. They could barely hold a pencil, let alone write something. But over time, their leaves of learning began to show and grow. Finally, in January, they blossomed. Suddenly, they caught on. They knew the alphabet and many sight words. They could read simple books. They could write several sentences. And they began to work independently and to collaborate with other students. They had blossomed fully. They continued to bloom throughout the Spring, learning to read real books and to write full paragraphs. Then in June, I must let them go. So too, did the bulbs in the garden wither and disappear back into the ground. But in August, the garden catalogue would arrive in the mail. Try as I would, I couldn’t (and still can’t) resist ordering a new batch of bulbs to plant in the Fall. And then I would begin to plan for my new crop of students, thinking about how to best instill in them the love of learning and help them bloom into a diverse array of brightly colored blossoms. For hope springs eternal. -MW | Splendor and Poignance Tulip dwarf trees pink and white, Feast for eager smell and sight, Life in all its brilliant splendor! Tulip petals limp and blown, Pain for mind, not heart alone, Death in all its poignant presence! -JM An Epigram a Day: Crops are born of cultivation, thoughts of cerebration. Paradise can never be lost or ever regained, for it never was. We are born to live and not to prepare for death. The aroma of poetry appeals to the mind, that of perfume but to the nose. Noumena are as perfect as phenomena are flawed. Beauty is a figment of the imagination, Wisdom is a distillate of the mind. To simplify is to satisfy and to gratify. -JM
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Dear Humans,
I have been living with you for six years now. I love you dearly but, try as I might, I still cannot understand much of your behavior. You humans make things so complicated and you talk so much. So, I thought perhaps it was time for me to give you some dog advice: Know what you want. Even better, know how to obtain it. Listen for a few key words. When you hear “treat” or “eat” run to the kitchen. Food trumps all. Go into the kitchen anytime you hear someone there. There might be a treat. Begging will get you everywhere and everything. Just hold up your paw and make your eyes liquid and slightly sad. Whine a bit if necessary. Come to think of it, I don’t see this working with humans. Maybe because we dogs are way more cute. Routine is good. It is soothing. I do not like my routine being upset, unless it is for a really fun activity. I will always interrupt my routine for food. Learn to focus. But remain alert at the same time. When I am chewing my bone, I am totally focused on that bone. But the slightest noise will put me on the alert and I will jump up to bark and scare away the intruder. Get over anger quickly. If you disturb my chewing or try to take away what I am eating, I will growl and even nip, but then it is over and we are friends again. Never poop on the rug. This is a no-no! Humans don’t like it. Although I don’t know why. Rugs are soft, even better than the lawn, because sometimes the grass itches. Try quiet watchfulness. Just sit and watch out the window like I do. Try silence. Just sit by me on the couch, watching, listening. There is no need to talk. Chase cats and squirrels. You won’t catch them but it is fun and you get exercise. If you hurt someone, apologize. Don’t make excuses, don’t deny it, don’t blame them. Just lick their face, put on a hang-dog expression, and grovel. This dissolves anger quickly. Human beds are much better than dog beds. Always seek out a human bed. It is even better when a human is in it. Exploring outside is fun. Sniffing is good. Try it sometime. There are many enticing smells out there. Wag your tail. It makes you happy and it makes those around you happy. Oops, I forgot.You don’t have a tail. Well, try smiling then. Barking is fun. Barking is communication. But I know you don’t like it. So I’ll try to curb it just for you. If you will stop talking so much. Enjoy life. Don’t analyze so much. Be in the here and now. Just sit back and relax. Lie in the sun. When it gets too hot, move to the shade. Offer love and affection without expecting anything in return. I eat and eat. I don’t know why I do. Then you weigh me and tell me I have to eat less. I guess I have some things to learn from you also. Maybe we can teach each other. Could you teach me self-discipline, so I don’t eat so much, so I only poop outside even if it is raining and cold, so I don’t bark at every little sound? So, dear human, keep feeding me, pet me, take me on walks, let me sit by you on the couch, let me out when I whine then back in then out again then in again… let me sleep in your bed. And in return, I will greet you enthusiastically every time you come home, I will clean you with my tongue, I will sit by you on the couch, and I will warm you in bed. I will even let you share my bone or chew rag if you wish. And I will offer you unconditional love forever. -Píccola
An Epigram a Day: Love makes whole. Words dismember. A love that begs is a love that has lost. Love pales when dream fails. To love blindly is to court disenchantment. Sex is appetite not love. Love, laughter, life So much better than strife. Love is fantasy, Marriage is reality. -JM
An epigram a day: Embrace it if you can't ameliorate it. Life should be an upward spiral not a downward plunge. Smile at the world and the world will smile at you. Money rarely trickles down, water does. Many look, fewer see, Many hear, fewer listen, Many think, fewer reason. There is clarity in brevity and simplicity. There is dignity in simplicity.
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