ME
As long as I live
I shall always be
My Self--and no other,
Just me.

Like a tree,
Willow, elder,
Aspen, thorn,
Or cypress forlorn.

Like a flower,
For its hour--
Primrose, or pink,
Or a violet--
Sunned by the sun,
And with dewdrops wet.

Always just me.

~Walter de la Mare (April 25, 1873 - June 22, 1956)  English poet, novelist best known for his work for children.

Beside The Neat Little Bookshop

Please note:  The Neat L'l Bookshop is temporarily closed today.  We will post updates.

Smile for Today ~

"If you play a tune and a person don't tap their feet, don't play the tune." ~ Count Basie (Aug. 21, 1904  - Apr 26, 1984)

"Music is your own experience, your thoughts, your wisdom.  If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn." ~ Charlie Parker (1920 - March 12, 1955)

"The only thing better than signing is more singing."  ~ Ella Fitzgerald (Apr 25, 1917 - June 15, 1996)

"All music is folk music.  I ain't never heard no horse sing a song. ~ Louis Armstrong (1901 - 1971)

"What is soul?  It's like electricity.  We don't really know what it is, but it's a force that can light a room."  ~ Ray Charles (1930 - 2004)

"I merely took the energy it takes to pout and wrote some blues."  ~ Duke Ellington (April 29 - May 24 1974)

"I wish they'd had electric guitars in cotton fields back in the good old days.  A whole lot of things would've been straightened out."  ~ Jimi Hendrix (1942 - 1970)

"Man, if you gotta ask you'll never know."  ~ Louis Armstrong, asked what jazz is.


[Please click on photo for larger image.]

Happy Earth Day ~

Thought for Today ~

Grand Treats & Treasures Closing

"A Little Something for Everyone"~ Grand Treats & Treasures

Places for People - Draft Final - August 7th, 2013

"The street will be a destination, not only linking the services and retail opportunities along the main street but also becoming an attraction as a relevant interpretive piece for the community and people place offering something for everyone.

~ and people place offering something for everyone ~

The street will become a quality public 'story.'  While 'passing through' the community will most likely remain a prime use for the main street, the gateways, portals and markers will announce the beginning of the intriguing story and significance of experiencing the Grand River throughout the interpretive elements of the streetscape.  The streetscape experience will convey Cayuga's geographic significance, and offer its hospitality of shops, services, spaces and attractions."

~ Excerpt from HALDIMAND COUNTY STREETSCAPE PLAN FOR CAYUGA.

Changing Dynamics ~ (from final draft plan for Cayuga)

The process of evolution, the mobility of the average resident and visitors, will and continue to change the role and dynamic of Cayuga; creating a different type of economic centre to what has been experienced in the past.  Future area roadway upgrades enhance traffic patterns.  Improvements to the pedestrian realm are a logical extension of community and infrastructure upgrades for the downtown core.

"Unique, Intimate, Inviting"
Three vision principles that form the basis for the streetscape plan improvements;

Unique Community

• Reinforce the design identity of Cayuga;
• Reflect natural heritage resources;
• Create coherence while fostering creativity;
• Reflect the cultural heritage and value the past history of the Cayuga community; and
• Reinforce the unique features, views and distinctive urban built form that define the character of the community.

Intimate Community

• Create streets where people can walk around and see each other face-to-face;
• Provide accessible public places where people can walk, sit, play, relax, and talk;
• Enhance public spaces and define them with interesting buildings, art, and greening; and
• Support a full range of accessible community businesses and services that are vibrant and foster our commercial cores as destinations.

~ HALDIMAND COUNTY STREETSCAPE PLAN FOR CAYUGA  Final Draft, August 7th, 2013.
[Tomorrow: Inviting Community]

Natty Trappings Closing

I will be the gladdest thing
   Under the sun!
I will touch a hundred flowers
   And not pick one.

I will look at cliffs and clouds
   With quiet eyes,
Watch the wind bow down the grass,
   And the grass rise.

And when lights begin to show
   Up from the town,
I will mark which must be mine,
   And then start down!

~ Edna St. Vincent Millary (1892 - 1950)  American poet. Pulitzer Prize for poetry.  Robert Frost medal.