Time For Fall (literally)

I can't believe the summer is gone and I didn't blog at all! I forgot about it. Thank goodness for my niece who gently (??) reminded me. I had a birthday since then, just a few weeks ago. I'm slowly getting over the shock that, yes, even I, am aging. It's a hard pill to swallow at first, but thankfully there's saliva!! What can I say? A famous quote comes to mind: "getting old is not for the squeamish". I was hoping for a easy decline, but instead "all dive" is ringing in my ears! Yikes and double yikes! The hardest part is seeing the looks people give you when they haven't seen you for a long time. First it's shock, then disbelief. Slowly a tender sympathy fills their eyes as they turn and walk away. Let em' look, let em' walk!! The best years of my life are ahead of me and I still have alot to offer! By golly, I'll show em'. This aging thing is going to be a piece of cake. (Make that two pieces of cake (chocolate), and throw in a bag of extra crunchy chips and a chocolate malt. If I'm goin' down, I'm goin' down with a well padded smile on my face!)

Till next time!

Talents Differ

(This robin's nest is in our woodshed! The babies hatched a few days ago.)

"What are you doing there, Robin a Bobbin,
Under my window, out in the blue?"
"Building my nest, O Little One, Pretty One,
Doing the thing that you cannot do!"

"What are you doing now, Robin a Bobbin,
Under my window, out in the blue?"
"Brooding my eggs, O Little One, Pretty One,
Doing the thing that you cannot do!"

"What are you doing there, Robin a Bobbin,
Under my window, out in the blue?"
"Feeding my nestlings, Little One, Pretty One,
Doing the thing that you cannot do.

"And what are you doing, pray, Little One, Pretty One,
What are you doing, tell me now true?"
"Sewing my patchwork, Robin a Bobbin,
Doing the thing that you cannot do!"

Laura E. Richards

A Walk Beside the Sea

One of my favorite pictures taken at St. George Island, Florida.

The Sea Gypsy

I am fevered with the sunset,
I am fretful with the bay,
For the wander-thirst is on me
And my soul is in Cathay.

There's a schooner in the offing,
With her topsails shot with fire,
And my heart has gone aboard her
For the islands of Desire.

I must forth again tomorrow!
With the sunset I must be
Hull down on the trail of rapture
In the wonder of the Sea.

Richard Hovey

A Flower

Walking through the forest,
I saw a flower -
Soft, pale yellow, delicate-
I picked it.

The trees wept with sadness.
The ferns bowed their heads.
The birds stopped their singing
and looked on with mournful silence.

D.Walsh 1970

The First Snowfall

The snow had begun in the gloaming,
And busily all the night
Had been heaping field and highway
With a silence deep and white.

Every pine and fir and hemlock
Wore ermine too dear for an earl,
And the poorest twig on the elm tree
Was ridged inch deep with pearl.

JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL

If I Can Stop One Heart From Breaking . .

If I can stop one heart from breaking,
I shall not live in vain;
If I can ease one life the aching,
Or cool one pain,
Or help one fainting robin
Unto his nest again,
I shall not live in vain.

Emily Dickinson