No.9

Butner, North Carolina

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Can you coax your mind from its wandering
and keep to the original oneness?

Can you let your body become
supple as a newborn child’s?

Can you cleanse your inner vision

until you see nothing but the light?

Can you love people and lead them

without imposing your will?

Can you deal with the most vital matters

by letting events take their course?

Can you step back from your own mind

and thus understand all things?

Giving birth and nourishing,

having without possessing,

acting with no expectations,

leading and not trying to control:

this is the supreme virtue.

- from the Tao Te Ching 

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Once upon a time a traveller was journeying across the desert when he met two strange men. As they were all going roughly in the same direction, they chatted as they walked.
The men told the traveller that their names were Fear and Plague and they were going to a big city where they intended to kill 20,000 of the inhabitants. Shocked, the man asked Plague if he would do all the work. Plague shook his head, “No, I’ll kill only a few hundred. My friend Fear will do the rest.”

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A Thought in Two Moods
By Thomas Hardy

I saw it - pink and white - revealed
Upon the white and green;
The white and green was a daisied field,
The pink and white Ethleen.

And as I looked it seemed in kind
That difference they had none;
The two fair bodiments combined
As varied miens of one.

A sense that, in some mouldering year,
As one they both would lie,
Made me move quickly on to her
To pass the pale thought by.

She laughed and said: "Out there, to me,
You looked so weather-browned,
And brown in clothes, you seemed to be
Made of the dusty ground!"

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"Can we try a tango next?"

Next post - New Year's Day

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No.8

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Working From Home
Phil J. Johnson

The grass needs cutting,
I must mend the gate.
I'm expecting a parcel,
I hope it's not late.
I must get a wash on.
There's the ironing too.
The gas bill needs paying.
There's so much to do.
I must send that email.
I can't really moan,
This is the life,
When you're working from home.

I'm due a long lie in
I must feed the cat.
There's the dishes to do,
I'll get round to that.
I'll de-frost the freezer
If I've got time,
But I'm watching the cricket.
Sky Sports is just fine!
I'll look at that spreadsheet,
Use my mobile phone,
So everyone knows
That I'm working from home.

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In ancient times the Greek physician Aratus, an early weather forecaster, once wrote, “If croaking frogs drone in the swamps, drenching rain shall fall from the clouds.”

It wasn’t till the 19th century that weather forecasts became a realistic possibility and in 1861 a Met Office forecast appeared in the Times newspaper. However, following an objection from the Royal Society, the venture was halted and no further forecasts in the press appeared for another 11 years.

There was a time of course when people relied on old weather rhymes. Here are a few -

When black clouds cross your path,

Black clouds much moisture hath.

When clouds appear like rocks and towers,

The earth’s refreshed by frequent showers.

Mackerel sky, mackerel sky,

Not long wet and not long dry.

Of course we all know "A red sky at night is the shepherd's delight, a red sky in the morning is the shepherd's warning."

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LAO-TSU RIDING ON HIS WATERBUFFALO

Laozi (Lao-Tsu) was a philosopher and poet of ancient China. He is best known as the reputed author of the Tao Te Ching and the founder of Taoism. Although a legendary figure, he is usually dated to around the 6th century BC and believed to have been a contemporary of Confucius.

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I'm Kindu Kodi Sonovason , better known as "Cody." I'm a basenji, an Egyptian or African dingo. whose ancestors date back 3,000 years to Africa. Instead of barking. we produce an unusual yodel-like sound commonly called a "baroo." Unlike other dogs, we produce tears when we cry and we clean ourselves just as a cat does.

CODY’S MANTRA

If I like it, it’s mine

If it’s in my mouth it’s mine

If I played with it EVER, it’s mine

If I can take it from you, it’s mine

If it’s mine, it can never be yours

Even if it looks like yours, it’s mine

If you’ve had it, put it down, it’s mine

If I chew it, all the bits are mine

If it was yours, get over it

Because once it’s broken, IT’S YOURS!

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NEXT POST - FRIDAY 29th DEC.

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No.7

Life is a stream
On which we strew
Petal by petal the flower of our heart;
The end lost in dream,
They float past our view,
We only watch their glad, early start.
- Amy Lowell -

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The Lotus Flower
Heinrich Heine

The Lotus flower shudders
When the Sun brings forth his light.
She droops her head in slumber
To dream in wait for the night

The moon is the Lotus' lover.
He wakes her with bright grace
Before him she will gladly uncover
Her flower's devoted face.

She shines and glows and blossoms
And mutely gazes above.
`She sighs and weeps and trembles
With love and the woe of love.

The lotus is the most beautiful flower, whose petals open one by one. But it will only grow in the mud. In order to grow and gain wisdom, first you must have the mud, the obstacles of life and its suffering. . . . The mud speaks of the common ground that humans share, no matter what our stations in life. . . . Whether we have it all or we have nothing, we are all faced with the same obstacles - sadness, loss, illness, dying and death. If we are to strive as human beings to gain more wisdom, more kindness and more compassion, we must have the intention to grow as a lotus and open each petal one by one. - Goldie Hawn

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Autumn Valentine
Dorothy Parker

In May my heart was breaking -
Oh, wide the wound, and deep!
And bitter it beat at waking,
And sore it split in sleep.

And when it came November,
I sought my heart, and sighed,
"Poor thing, do you remember?"
"What heart was that?" it cried. 

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"She's pretending she doesn't see what I'm doing."

Next post - Wednesday

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No.6

Part of the Japanese Garden at Portland, Oregon, USA

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HOW SWEET THE MOONLIGHT SLEEPS UPON THIS BANK
William Shakespeare 1564-1616
(from The Merchant of Venice, Act 5 Scene 1, Lorenzo's speech)

How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this bank!
Here will we sit and let the sounds of music
Creep in our ears: soft stillness and the night
Become the touches of sweet harmony.
Sit, Jessica. Look how the floor of heaven
Is thick inlaid with patines of bright gold:
There's not the smallest orb which thou behold'st
But in his motion like an angel sings,
Still quiring to the young-eyed cherubins;
Such harmony is in immortal souls;
But whilst this muddy vesture of decay
Doth grossly close it in, we cannot hear it.

Learn to enjoy every minute of your life. Be happy now. Don't wait for something outside of yourself to make you happy in the future. Think how really precious is the time you have to spend, whether it's at work or with your family. Every minute should be enjoyed and savoured. - Earl Nightingale

The People Upstairs

by Ogden Nash

The people upstairs all practise ballet

Their living room is a bowling alley

Their bedroom is full of conducted tours.

Their radio is louder than yours,

They celebrate week-ends all the week.

When they take a shower, your ceilings leak.

They try to get their parties to mix

By supplying their guests with Pogo sticks,

And when their fun at last abates,

They go to the bathroom on roller skates.

I might love the people upstairs more

If only they lived on another floor.

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"I'll just stay on my side, if you don't mind"

Next post - Monday

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No.5

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THE SONG OF THE WANDERING AENGUS

by William Butler Yeats 

I went out to the hazel wood,

Because a fire was in my head,

And cut and peeled a hazel wand,

And hooked a berry to a thread;

And when white moths were on the wing,

And moth-like stars were flickering out,

I dropped the berry in a stream

And caught a little silver trout.

When I had laid it on the floor

I went to blow the fire a-flame,

But something rustled on the floor,

And someone called me by my name:

It had become a glimmering girl

With apple blossom in her hair

Who called me by my name and ran

And faded through the brightening air.

Though I am old with wandering

Through hollow lands and hilly lands,

I will find out where she has gone,

And kiss her lips and take her hands;

And walk among long dappled grass,

And pluck till time and times are done,

The silver apples of the moon,

The golden apples of the sun.

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From A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens -

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way - in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

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Some thoughts by Boutros Boutros-Ghali 1922-2016, Secretary-General of the UN 1992-96

Ever since my youth I have been inspired whenever I contemplate the Nile, the river-god my ancestors worshipped.

The Nile flows on indifferent to mere events. It carries a message from the heart of Africa, our common home. It brings life to all who live near its banks. It contributes its water to the Mediterranean and the great civilisations which surround its shores. And ultimately it flows and merges with all the world’s oceans which link every continent and all the people of our planet.

To me, it is a constant reminder of our common humanity.

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"I don't like the look of it. Perhaps it bites!"

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Next post - FRIDAY

No.4

Painting by Gustave Courbet

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Poem by Christina Rossetti
One face looks out from all his canvasses,

One selfsame figure sits or walks or leans;

We found her hidden just behind those screens,

That mirror gave back all her loveliness.

A queen in opal or in ruby dress,

A nameless girl in freshest summer greens,

A saint, an angel; - every canvass means

The same one meaning, neither more nor less.

He feeds upon her face by day and night,

And she with true kind eyes looks back on him

Fair as the moon and joyful as the light;

Not wan with waiting, not with sorrow dim;

Not as she is, but was when hope shone bright;

Not as she is, but as she fills his dream.

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Life starts now. Live, love, laugh and let your light shine!
― Rob Liano

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“Sometimes, all we need is just one person who believes in us and who will never give up on us. Someone who sees beyond our weaknesses, beyond our faults. Who knows that though we walk in darkness, we can still find our way into the light.” - Jocelyn Soriano

Being Peace

If we are peaceful.
If we are happy.
We can smile and blossom
Like a flower.

And everyone
In our family,
Our entire society
Will benefit
From our peace.
- Thich Nhat Hahn

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"I think I've wandered into the wrong blog"

Next post - Wednesday

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No.3

The summer-flower has run to seed,

And yellow is the woodland bough;

And every leaf of bush and weed

Is tipped with autumn’s pencil now.

And I do love the varied hue,

And I do love the browning plain;

And I do love each scene to view,

That’s marked with beauties of her reign.

- John Clare

Use what you have, use what the world gives you. Use the first day of fall: bright flame before winter's deadness; harvest; orange, gold, amber; cool nights and the smell of fire. Our tree-lined streets are set ablaze, our kitchens filled with the smells of nostalgia: apples bubbling into sauce, roasting squash, cinnamon, nutmeg, cider, warmth itself. The leaves as they spark into wild colour just before they die are the world's oldest performance art, and everything we see is celebrating one last violently hued hurrah before the black and white silence of winter. - Shauna Niequist from Bittersweet (Thoughts on Change, Grace, and Learning the Hard Way)

AUTUMN WOOD by Albert Bierstadt

A haiku

roses in autumn -

their beauty far surpasses

roses in June

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My Tao

Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the light of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.
- Buddha

"Has she discovered the mess yet?"

Next post - MONDAY

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