If I had a ship,
I'd sail my ship,
I'd sail my ship
Through Eastern seas;
Down to a beach where the slow waves
     thunder ~
The green curls over and the white falls
     under ~
Boom!  Boom!   Boom!
On the sun-bright sand.
Then I'd leave my ship and I'd land,
And climb the steep white sand,
And climb to the trees,
The six dark trees,
[. . .]
And there would I rest, and lie,
My chin in my hands, and gaze
At the dazzle of sand below,
And the green waves curling slow,
And the grey-blue distant haze
Where the sea goes up to the sky. . . .

And I'd say to myself as I looked so lazily down at
     the sea:
"There's nobody else in the world, and the world
     was made for me."

~ [Apologies to:  A. A. Milne WHEN WE WERE VERY YOUNG, E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc. 1924] The Island.

"...feeling more snowy behind the ears
than he had ever felt before." ~ Pooh

Today ~

"Into many a green valley
     Drifts the appalling snow;"  ~ W. H. Auden

"It's snowing still," said Eeyore gloomily.
"So it is."
"Is it?"
"Yes," said Eeyore.  "However," he said, brightening up a little, "we haven't had an earthquake lately."

~ A. A. Milne, "Pooh Builds a House" - THE HOUSE AT POOH CORNER, E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc., 1928.

There is in my old picture-book

A page at which I like to look,
Where knights and squires come riding down
The cobbles of some steep old town,
And ladies from beneath the eaves
Flutter their bravest handkerchiefs,
Or, smiling proudly, toss down gages. . .
But that was in the Middle Ages.
It wouldn't happen now; but still,
Whenever I look up the hill
Where, dark against the green and blue,
The firs come marching, two by two,
I wonder if perhaps I might
See suddenly a shining knight
Winding his way from blue to green ~
Exactly as it would have been
Those many, many years ago . . .

Perhaps I might.  You never know.

~ A. A. Milne WHEN WE WERE VERY YOUNG, E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc. 1924

WHEN I WAS ONE AND TWENTY

When I was one-and-twenty
   I heard a wise man say,
"Give crowns and pounds and guineas
   But not your heart away;
Give pearls away and rubies
   But keep your fancy free."
But I was one-and-twenty,
   No use to talk to me.

When I was one-and-twenty
   I heard him say again,
"The heart out of the bosom
   Was never given in vain;
'Tis paid with sighs aplenty
   And sold for endless rue."
And I am two-and-twenty,
   And oh, 'tis true, 'tis true.

~ A. E. Housman (1859 - 1936) English classical scholar and poet.

Hot Chocolate Would be Good

Thought for Today ~ 

"We both felt, while bought bobbles are more immediately attractive, our hearts warm more to the home-made offering . . . lace bags in a rainbow of colors, filled with lavendar from the garden and tied with a ribbon. . ."

~ Maud Tomlinson, The Illustrated Diary of a Victorian Woman, 1880.

Smile for Today ~

"Love should run out to meet love with open arms.  Indeed, the ideal story is that of two people who go into love step for step, with a fluttered consciousness, like a pair of children venturing together into a dark room."

~ Robert Louis Stevenson, Virginibus Puerisque.

Seven days until Valentine's Day

Daily Life on Paper:  Journals, Sketchbooks and Cookbooks

 

 

Keeping a record of your everyday life, through what you see, experience and cook, will be discussed at the free public talk titled "Daily Life on Paper" at The Neat Little Bookshop, 29 Talbot Street in Cayuga at 1:00 p.m. on February 19.  Guest speaker Cindy Presant, a local artist, will discuss the significance of handwritten records and how these records can be used as ways to understand yourself and preserve the stories of your life.  She will share simple ways to start a journal, sketchbook or cookbook using paper-based methods.  Attendees are encouraged to bring a handwritten example of their own to share with the group in the second half of the afternoon session.

 

"Daily Life on Paper" is the February-featured talk of the Haldimand Literary Group, commonly known as "Fascinating Personalities" which meets monthly every third Thursday at the bookshop.  The group began meeting several years ago to discuss cultural topics and interesting personalities including local people, artists and authors.  Over the years this has included topics such as china painting, stained-glass art, poetry, self-publishing and famous celebrated artists and authors.  Topics scheduled for this spring are calligraphy, specifically The St. John's Bible Project, by Vickie Peart;  family letters from your family treasury; and "Pompeii" a reading by the author, John Passfield.

 

 

Mark your calendar:  Thurs., Feb. 19 at 1:00 p.m.