Quotes of the week
...a man who's willing to make a decision in the first place can always make another one to correct any mistake he's made. ~Harry S. Truman
- You can judge your age by the amount of pain you feel when you come in contact with a new idea. ~John Nuveen
- A lawn is nature under totalitarian rule.~Michael Pollan, author, journalism
Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts. Daniel Patrick Moynihan
Meditation of the week
In wildness is the preservation of the world.- Henry David Thoreau
Nature confronts us with its beauty in a flower or a furry animal. The awesomeness of nature is in a lightning bolt or a majestic mountain. Every variety of tree has its own uniquely textured bark. Each annual ring in a tree trunk is a natural record of the growing conditions in each year it grew. These things remind us we are not in charge, and we are moved by the experience.
This "wildness" is everywhere around us, and we are renewed by it when we interact with it. At night, in the city, we look up and see the ancient moon. When we live with a pet, it reminds us we are creatures too. We are part of this larger whole. We don't just appreciate nature -- we are nature. When we open our eyes and learn to be a part of it, it renews and lifts our spirits.
Today, I will notice my relationship with the sun and moon, with the plants and animals in my world.
Poem of the Week
No Matter How Far You Drive
I sat between Mamma and Daddy.My sister sat on Mamma's lap.
Daddy drove. Fields, telephone poles....
I watched the sun go down.
"Never look straight at the sun,
it could ruin your eyes."
No matter how far you drive
you can't get to the sun.
I touched the pearly knob
of the gearshift lever
and felt the vibration in my fingers.
It made Daddy nervous.
'Never mess around with that.
You could ruin the car,
cause an accident."
It was dark, the sun gone to China.
Out there in the dark,
fourteen lights. I counted. Fourteen.
Rabbits ran in front of the car
from one black ditch to the other.
I didn't know where we were.
I could see the red light on the dashboard
and the light of Daddy's Lucky Strike
that broke into a million sparks behind us
when he threw it out the window.
Author of the week
Good Idea of the week
"Our insatiable demand for illegal drugs fuels the drug trade. Our inability to prevent weapons from being illegally smuggled across the border to arm these criminals causes the deaths of police officers, soldiers and civilians."
SECRETARY OF STATE HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON, on a visit to Mexico.
SECRETARY OF STATE HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON, on a visit to Mexico.
