I Saw in Louisiana a Live Oak Growing

I saw in Louisiana a live oak growing,

All alone stood it and the moss hung down from the branches,

Without any companion it grew there uttering joyous leaves of dark green,

And its look, rude, unbending, lusty, made me think of myself,

But I wondered how it could utter joyous leaves standing alone there
without its friend near, for I knew I could not,

And I broke off a twig with a certain number of leaves upon it,

and twined around it a little moss,
And brought it away, and I have placed it in sight of my room.
It is not needed to remind me of my own dear friends

(For I believe lately I think of little else than of them),

Yet it remains to me a curious token, it makes me think of manly love;
For all that, and though the live oak glistens there in Louisiana solitary

in a wide flat space,

Uttering joyous leaves all its life without a friend a lover near,

I know very well I could not.

~ Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892)  American author, poet, journalist.

Smile For Today ~

"Brahms*, who enjoyed his food, was distressed when he became ill and his doctor prescribed a strict diet. 'But this evening I am dining with Strauss and we shall have chicken paprika,' he protested. 'Out of the question,' said the doctor.
'Very well, then,' said Brahms.  'Please consider that I did not come to consult you until tomorrow.'"


~ THE LITTLE, BROWN BOOK OF ANECDOTES, Clifton Fadiman, 1885
*Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897) German Composer.

"In his old age Brahms announced to his friends that he was going to stop composing music and enjoy the time left to him.  Several months went by without Brahm's writing a note.  But there came the day when a new Brahms composition made its debut.  "I thought you weren't going to write any more," a friend reminded him.  "I wasn't," said the composer, "but after a few days away from it, I was so happy at the thought of no more writing that the music came to me without effort."

~ THE LITTLE, BROWN BOOK OF ANECDOTES, Clifton Fadiman, 1985.

"The War of 1812 - 14 determined that Upper Canada would have a different destiny than Texas.  It also put an end to large-scale American frontier migration into the province.  By the 1820s, however, still larger numbers of new settlers were arriving from Great Britain itself, across the sea.  Wherever they came from and wherever they took up land, the new settlers built churches.  The spiritual life of the local church in Upper Canada was a long strong arm in a rugged and sometimes grim new environment.  Happily, some of these  churches remain standing today ~ in tribute to many now forgotten pioneer struggles of the Ontario past."

~ Elizabeth Luther, Pioneering Spirit, eastendbooks, Toronto, 2000.



St. Paul's Anglican, Middleport, ON



(Photo:  lbwalker)

Doors Opened in Haldimand ~

Thank You to All who Made the Day a Success

Melick Cemetery, 8069 Canborough Road

Ten year old Martha, daughter of Peter and Elizabeth Melick, was the first person to be buried in this cemetery in 1830. Land for the cemetery was originally donated by one of Peter and Elizabeth's sons, Joseph.

(Click on Photos for Larger Images.)

Haldimand County Museum, Cayuga

DOORS OPEN SAT., SEPT. 15 ~ 10am - 4pm

Nicholas Log Cabin, Cayuga

For a complete list of the sites participating in the 2012 Doors Open Haldimand, visit www.doorsopenontario.on.ca

After the death of Major General Sir Isaac Brock, at the Battle of Queenston Heights, "hostilities became sporadic and confused, with several failed American attempts at invasion.  When the Yankees briefly occupied York, in 1813, the troops seemed more interested in plunder than power." ~ Charlotte Gray, Canadian author.

Except from Penelope Beikie letter to her Brother, John MacDonell,York, May 5, 1813:

"Every house they found deserted was completely sacked.  We have lost a few things, which were carried off before our faces; but, as we expected to lose all, we think ourselves well off.  Will you believe it?  I had the temerity to frighten, and even to threaten, some of the enemy, though they had the place and me in their power...They so overloaded their vessels with the spirits of this place, that I am told they have thrown quantities of pork and flour into the lake.
"I really attribute this visit to the vengeance of heaven on this place, for quantities of stores, farming utensils, etc., sent from England in the time of General Simeon [Simcoe], were allowed to remain in the Kings stores and nothing of them did [the colonists] ever get.  Now, our enemies have them, to do with them as they please.  I think we deserve all we have got.  Keep up, your spirits, my dear John, for God seems to be on our side."
~ CANADA A PORTRAIT IN LETTERS 1800 - 2000, Charlotte Gray, Doubleday Canada, 2003.