June 4th, 2017
An Excerpt from a June, 2007 posting
which only goes to prove that the more things change, the more they stay the same
Despite the devastating things that happen in our lives, the moves we make, the changes in circumstances, still, beneath whatever desolation saddens us there is a core in the way we cope with life that stays the same and carries us through!
Well, I've come to that conclusion, anyway.
In June 2007 I copied that lovely old admonishing William Henry Davies poem that goes thus.....
What is this life if full of care
We have no time to stand and stare?
No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.
No time to see when woods we pass
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.
No time to see in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.
No time to turn at beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.
No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich the smile her eyes began.
A poor life this if full of care
We have no time to stand and stare.
And said, in so many words "One of the most delightful advantages of aging is an awakening awareness that probably hasn't been felt so strongly since childhood.
Do you rlemember the intense kinship you felt with all of nature when you were a child? The awe that little things inspired? A wiggling worm, a taqdpole, the green grass growing and the passion for four leaf clovers? What a precious affinity we had with GRASS, embracing time in guiltless idleness as we lay on the lawn, imagining shapes in the white clouds of summer.
And the little girls who romanced with the flowers in their mothers' gardens, making princesses our of hollyhocks and sweet heaqds of clover, - all dressed for the ball and Prince Charming.
Now, as age steals busy activity, it leaves in its place the time to recapture some of the awe of childhood.
The 'trailing clouds of glory' that Wordsworth saw surrounding the very young child seems to return to us, and surround us, as we reach the final years.
Some are lucky (or wise) enough to carry the sense of wonder throughout their whole lives, but for others it is a surprise gift, bestowed by a sense of infinity and appreciation".
At this point in 2007 I entered some of the gorgeous flowers
that grew in the garden Charles and I nurtured in those days.
Different garden, but yes,
my time in the garden today was spent amongst the same beauty....
and gave me the same comfort.
I am still stirred by the magic in the early morning garden,
and have great awe and enthusiasm for the new blooms that surprise me every day.
Such a comfort, too.....
From Francis Hodgson Burnett, and the Secret Garden.....
"and the secret garden bloomed and bloomed, and every morning revealed new miracles".
Coffee is at seven if you would like to join in the back garden,
just down the lane...
