I got to see my freesias bloom!

Song of the Flower
BY
Khalil Gibran


I am a kind word uttered and repeated
By the voice of Nature;
I am a star fallen from the
Blue tent upon the green carpet.
I am the daughter of the elements
With whom Winter conceived;
To whom Spring gave birth; I was
Reared in the lap of Summer and I
Slept in the bed of Autumn.


At dawn I unite with the breeze
To announce the coming of light;
At eventide I join the birds
In bidding the light farewell.


The plains are decorated with
My beautiful colors, and the air
Is scented with my fragrance.


As I embrace Slumber the eyes of
Night watch over me, and as I
Awaken I stare at the sun, which is
The only eye of the day.


I drink dew for wine, and hearken to
The voices of the birds, and dance
To the rhythmic swaying of the grass.


I am the lover's gift; I am the wedding wreath;
I am the memory of a moment of happiness;
I am the last gift of the living to the dead;
I am a part of joy and a part of sorrow.


But I look up high to see only the light,
And never look down to see my shadow.
This is wisdom which man must learn.









Enjoy your weekend!

December 17th - grateful for...

{ snow }

(schools are closed today)
~~~~~~~
Snow Towards Evening

Suddenly the sky turned gray,
The day,
Which had been bitter and chill,
Grew soft and still.
Quietly
From some invisible blossoming tree
Millions of petals cool and white
Drifted and blew
Lifted and flew,
Fell with the falling night.

~ Melville Cane

Inspiring Words 2

~~gratitude ~~

~~~

A gratitude-heart
Is to discover on earth
A Heaven-delivered rose.
Excerpt from My Sunrise-Heart, Part 1 by Sri Chinmoy.
~~~~~
Let us be grateful to people who make us happy;
they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.
- Marcel Proust

~~~~~
He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not,
but rejoices for those which he has.
- Epictetus

~~~~~

My heart overflows with gratitude

for being here

to see the first blooms

from the bulbs I planted in November.

xxx

Inspiring Words 1

~~ serenity~~

~~

The Serenity Prayer
God, give us grace to accept with serenity
the things that cannot be changed,
Courage to change the things
which should be changed,
and the Wisdom to distinguish
the one from the other.
Living one day at a time,
Enjoying one moment at a time,
Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,
Taking, as Jesus did,
This sinful world as it is,
Not as I would have it,
Trusting that You will make all things right,
If I surrender to Your will,
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life,
And supremely happy with You forever in the next.
Amen.
By: Reinhold Niebuhr

Peace is not a relationship of nations. It is a condition of mind brought about by a serenity of soul. Peace is not merely the absence of war. It is also a state of mind. Lasting peace can come only to peaceful people.
Jawaharlal Nehru

What I dream of is an art of balance, of purity and serenity devoid of troubling or depressing subject matter - a soothing, calming influence on the mind, rather like a good armchair which provides relaxation from physical fatigue.
Henri Matisse

~~~~~

I have always admired and envied serene people.

I seek serenity and calmness;

I make conscious efforts to bring peacefulness to my life.

I often fail,

but I don't give up.

~~~~~

xxx

Dear God...

Well, equipment or not,

I'm just grateful he did make them
and gave us all this light
to brighten our days and nights.

* * * * *
Visit Scattering Lupines for more fun!
Details on the book here.
* * * * *

Clown In The Moon by Dylan Thomas
My tears are like the quiet drift
Of petals from some magic rose;
And all my grief flows from the rift
Of unremembered skies and snows.

I think, that if I touched the earth,
It would crumble;
It is so sad and beautiful,
So tremulously like a dream.

* * * * *

After The Sun Comes Out by Emily Dickinson
After the Sun comes out
How it alters the World --
Waggons like messengers hurry about
Yesterday is old --

All men meet as if
Each foreclosed a news --
Fresh as a Cargo from Batize
Nature's qualities --


* * * * *

Have a wonderful weekend!
xxx

Let the Party begin!

(Byzantine Nativity 4-5th century CE

courtesy of Yahoo images)

'And she gave birth to her Son, her Firstborn; and she wrapped Him in swaddling clothes and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room or place for them in the inn.' Luke 2.7

... and so the greatest story of all begins...

Welcome my dear friends!

Make yourself at home; how about some tea and biscuits? Or maybe some red wine and finger food? Let's turn the radio on; my favourite radio station plays Christmas songs all day long. Ready to share some Christmas joy and warm our hearts with happy thoughts?
Ok then. Let's have some fun!

This year more than ever

I've decided to focus on the true meaning of Christmas;

the one about love... hope... peace

in the world.

This has really warmed my heart

together with ...

...this poem

Letter to Santa

Snowflakes softly falling, upon your window they play
Your blankets snug around you, into sleep you drift away.
I bend to gently kiss you, when I see that on the floor
There's a letter, neatly written, I wonder who it’s for.

I quietly unfold it, making sure you're still asleep,
It's a Christmas list for Santa, one my heart will always keep.
It started just as always with the toys seen on TV,
A new watch for your father and a winter coat for me.

But as my eyes read on
I could see deep inside
there were many things you wished for
that your loving heart would hide.

You asked if your friend Molly could have another Dad;
It seems her father hits her, and it makes you very sad.
Then you asked dear Santa, if the neighbors down the street
Could find a job, that they might have some food, and clothes, and heat.

You saw a family on the news, whose house had blown away,
"Dear Santa, send them just one thing, a place where they can stay."
"And Santa, those four cookies that I left you for a treat,
Could you take them to the children who have nothing else to eat."

"Do you know that little bear I have, the one I love so dear?
I'm leaving it for you to take to Africa this year."
And as you fly your reindeer on this night of Jesus' birth,
Could your magic bring to everyone, Goodwill and Peace on Earth?"

"There's one last thing before you go, so grateful I would be,
If you'd smile at Baby Jesus in the manger by our tree."

I pulled the letter close to me, I felt it melt my heart.
Those tiny hands had written what no other could impart.
"And a little child shall lead them," was whispered in my ear
As I watched you sleep on Christmas Eve while Santa Claus was here.

...Christmas children's books scattered all over the place (literally!)

...Christmas cards from and to special friends

...a tiny hand putting an angel at the top of the Christmas tree

...going to church when it's still dark

... kissing my wonderful husband for his name-day

...listening to my lovely son telling me how lucky we are for what we have because there are children in the world who don't even have clean water

...driving to work, listening to Christmas songs while the sun has barely come up

...singing Christmas carols with my hubby and son at home, just the three of us, just because little one wanted to practise for his school play

... teaching my students more meaningful season's greetings than just "Merry Christmas"; they loved it yesterday when I told them about hope and peace and being grateful for all the blessings we have been given.

* * * * *

Thank you all for joining in and visiting;

sing all the beautiful Christmas songs (I love them all; really, I tried to think of a favourite but couldn't)

at the top of your voice

and make sure you make the people you love smile -

giving is so much more heart-warming than receiving!

xox

Yiota

PS. If you want to see who's here, at our little gathering, check my previous post.

Autumn Leaves

Every leaf speaks bliss to me,
Fluttering from the autumn tree.
Emily Bronte

The morns are meeker than they were,
The nuts are getting brown;
The berry's cheek is plumper,
The rose is out of town.
The maple wears a gayer scarf,
The field a scarlet gown.
Lest I should be old-fashioned,
I'll put a trinket on.
Emily Dickinson
Nature XXVII, Autumn.

October gave a party;
The leaves by hundreds came -
The Chestnuts, Oaks, and Maples,
And leaves of every name.
The Sunshine spread a carpet,
And everything was grand,
Miss Weather led the dancing,
Professor Wind the band.
George Cooper
October's Party.

These are the leaves little one and I collected on our short walk last Saturday. My dad was telling us what tree they were from as we were admiring the colours and 'hunting' for more.

Today we've turned them into this autumn tree.

I think it's kind of neat. Don't you think?


This year more than ever I appreciate autumn and cherish everything it has to give. You've helped me see what a special season it is and in my turn, I help my son take it all in.

Enjoy this wonderful season while it lasts.

Carpe Diem!

"I went to the woods because I wanted to live deliberately. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life. To put to rout all that was not life, and not when I had come to die, discover that I had not lived."

Henry David Thoreau - Walden

This poem from one of the films that's marked my being, Dead Poets' Society, sprang to mind completely out of the blue while I was drying my hair of all possible times!
I was obsessed with it (the poem) when I first saw the film, had written it on a piece of paper and put it on my desk to read every day. It helped me through some tough times but I haven't thought about it for a while.

Carpe Diem my friends (and myself)!
Seize the Day.

Happy Thought

HAPPY THOUGHT

The world is so full of a number of things,

I'm sure we should all be as happy as kings.

R.L. Stevenson

A Child's Garden of Verses

While I was looking for another book in my bookcase I came across this little treasure. I had totally forgotten its existence; I don't even remember when and where I got it from. It's a 1994 edition with yellowish leaves and a great smell. I read most of it at one go. This is a little poem that I liked; it reminds me to always be grateful for what I have. There's one on autumn at my sidebar. I may share more on the following days.

Have a lovely Sunday!

xxx