Oh, the summer night Has a smile of light And she sits on a sapphire throne. ~Barry Cornwall In summer, the song sings itself. ~William Carlos Williams What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness. ~John Steinbeck Today is the first day of summer and it is supposed to be a hot one! Are we ready for this?
Though outwardly a gloomy shroud, The inner half of every cloud Is bright and shining: I therefore turn my clouds about And always wear them inside out To show the lining. ~Ellen Thorneycroft Fowler It is true that our most difficult times often lead to moments of great joy. Clouds do have silver linings. So it might make sense to actually deal with adversity in a relaxed and relatively upbeat manner. I’m not saying it’s easy to do this. But, if you’ve been around long enough to see it happen a few times, it ought to be possible. Following this line of thought it may mean that we can see the struggles of humanity in a different light. While certainly being empathetic…
The tulip and the butterfly Appear in gayer coats than I: Let me be dressed fine as I will, Flies, worms, and flowers exceed me still. ~Isaac Watts Isaac Watts was a theologian and a philosopher. My reason for liking him is that he led the way for inclusion of new songs in the Protestant worship service. New poetry, in fact, put to music. And, he wrote about logic. A contemporary of John Locke, Watts was later a subject of C.S. Peirce, the American philosopher and originator of Pragmatism here in the U.S. I’m reading about the history of Pragmatism and actually tried to write about it a few weeks ago in a post about Jonathan Edwards. So my line of characters…
It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade. ~Charles Dickens It’s spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you’ve got it, you want – oh, you don’t quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so! ~Mark Twain And Spring arose on the garden fair, Like the Spirit of Love felt everywhere; And each flower and herb on Earth’s dark breast rose from the dreams of its wintry rest. ~Percy Bysshe Shelley, “The Sensitive Plant”
To make a prairie it takes a clover and one bee,
One clover, and a bee,
And revery.
The revery alone will do,
If bees are few.
~Emily Dickinson, Poems
The strongest nation on earth is your imagi-nation. ~Matt Furey
They who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night. ~Edgar Allan Poe, “Eleonora”
Here is a photo I took some time ago over at the botanical gardens. It’s all about a busy bee doing what bees do best. . . being a bee. And I admire the little guy for simply going about his business without worrying about anything at all. When I walk I try to do the same thing. Just walk. Forget about the world. Forget about all the things going on in our lives, Betsy and myself. We are surrounded by many people who are doing the best they can to deal with this world. Only a few resort to treachery and causing others pain.
But I seldom think about them. I’m mostly at peace with life and for some reason have a great deal of time to use my imagination. I never have bad dreams or nightmares. Last night, for example, I dreamed about Jennifer Lopez. For some reason, once again inexplicable, she had the hots for me. I used to dream about Charlize Theron but apparently she has moved on. No problem. It’s fun having Jennifer around. In some ways it’s even nicer because she has a softer personality. I’m still amazed at how the singer on American Idol who was finally kicked off last week worked her to last as long as he did. He was a blubbering mass of insecurities and she was very protective of him. But then, America voted him off and they made her tell him he had to go.
Life can be cruel, can’t it Jen? But it goes on and we go on too. And we do better if we imagine a better place where serious mischief makers do not go. It actually is better to be robbed or manipulated than to do either of these things. It’s better to be at peace with yourself. It’s better to be hated than to hate someone if you have tried to make amends. And it’s not like you have to wait to pass away in order to find “heaven”. It’s right here. Maybe it becomes more visible at a later date. Maybe heavenly architecture does exist somewhere but it’s not really very important. Because the true peace arrives more quickly and it is invisible to those who cannot see.
It’s in our hearts and souls. It animates the imagination with delightful dreams both day and night. We can go here now! And it sorts out our families and takes us all where we will fit in most perfectly and BE the most happy in the end as well.