The Grand

"In the name of God, stop a moment, cease your work, look around you."

~ Leo Tolstoy (1828 - 1910) Russian novelist, Philosopher.

"The fact that I can plant a seed and it becomes a flower, share a bit of knowlege and it becomes another's, smile at someone and receive a smile in return, are to me continual spiritual exercises."

~ Leo Buscaglia PHd (March 31, 1924 - June 12, 1998) American author, known as Dr. Love.

Vicky Peart

Vickie Peart, professional calligrapher, will be our guest speaker next Third Thursday, March 19.  Vickie is well known in Haldimand County for her work with the Caledonia Fair.  What may not be as well recognized is her passion for calligraphy.  Since 1986, Vickie has been studying, travelling, learning all there is to know about calligraphy. Her fascinating stories include the Saint John's Bible Project ~ the first handwritten bible in the "New World" ~ a multi-million dollar millennium project commissioned by St. John's College, Minnesota.

We welcome Vick and look forward to learning about her work in calligraphy.

THURSDAY, MARCH 19 at 1:00 p.m.

[Apologies to Vickie for the incorrect spelling of her name.]

Smile for Today ~

For our friends in Florida

[Photos: Monday, March 9, 2015 lbw]

The Grand

"Behold, we know not anything;
   I can but trust that good shall fall
   At last ~ far off~ at last, to all,
And every winter change to spring."

~ Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809 - 1892) the Cantos, first published in 1869.

~ The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, Oxford University Press

[Photos:  Sunday, March 8, 2015]

STRANGE FITS OF PASSION HAVE I KNOWN ~ 
William Wordsworth*

Strange fits of passion have I known.

And I will dare to tell,

But in the Lover's ear alone,

What once to me befell.

When she I loved looked every day

Fresh as a rose in June,

I to her cottage bent my way,

Beneath an evening moon.

Upon the moon I fixed my eye,

All over the wide lea;

With quickening pace my horse drew nigh

Those paths so dear to me.

And now we reached the orchard plot;

And, as we climbed the hill,

The sinking moon to Lucy's cot

Came near, and nearer still.

In one of those sweet dreams I slept,

Kind Nature's gentlest boon!

And all the while my eyes I kept

On the descending moon.

My horse moved on; hoof after hoof

He raised, and never stopped:

When down behind the cottage roof,

At once, the bright moon dropped.

What fond and wayward thoughts will slide

Into a Lover's head!

"O mercy!" to myself I cried,

"If Lucy should be dead!"

~ *English poet (1770 - 1850) helped launch the Romantic period in English literature.

March 8 is International Women's Day.