Poem of the Week: Leisure

Leisure

                                       by William Henry Davies (1871-1940)

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 that smile her eyes began.

A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

HT: Holy Joe

NJ Trip

 Klenda and I went up to NJ to see my folks last weekend.  We had a lovely time when we finally got there - I discovered, 2 hours into the 6 hour trip, that I had forgotten my wallet at home.

Unfortunately, I found out when we stopped for gas...and didn't have enough gas to either go on or go back, and only $6 to our name!

That was exciting! Thanks be to God, Klenda had her wallet and was 18! Mxyl was able to wire money to Klenda (I couldn't receive money without an ID), and we got on our way.

Because they are further North, they are just starting Spring.





The geese on the lake had 6 tiny goslings.

And my mom had a garage full of sheep.


 Crazed, maniacal sheep, by the look of them.




Which she wanted to send home with me for some reason.

Which I did not want to bring home for some reason.

So she hid them in my car.

Fortunately, I found most of them before I left and hid them in her garage.

Unfortunately, she hid one with a bunch of cheese in the trunk... Wait, are you still reading this? I feel sheepish.

Uh, anyway, We had a great time, and we celebrated Mother's Day and Mumpy's birthday, and my birthday, and we planted their summer garden.

And we got Pa telling stories of strange things that happened to him in stranger places, and that is always amazing and fun!

27 Years Ago Today

Sonnet 43

By Elizabeth Barrett Browning

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

I love thee to the depth and breadth and height

My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight

For the ends of being and ideal grace.

I love thee to the level of every day’s

Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.

I love thee freely, as men strive for right;

I love thee purely, as they turn from praise.

I love thee with the passion put to use

In my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith.

I love thee with a love I seemed to lose

With my lost saints. I love thee with the breath,

Smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if God choose,

I shall but love thee better after death.

HT: Poetry Foundation

Happy Birthday Oob!

Oob is 10!  Double digits!

For his cake he wanted a wither storm. We can do creepy cakes!





 Did he love it?


Yes!






10 Great Things About Oob

1. He wants to see all of the birds in the world.
2. When I am sick, he prays the Rosary for me.
2. He's a Minecraft master.
3. He is always willing to help out.
4. He's a very loving brother.
4. He likes to build contraptions.
5. He's a job thief!
5. He tells funny jokes.
6. He's an expert snuggler.
6. He's a Lego master builder.
7. He's a Webelo.
8. He likes to cook.
8. He loves taking care of cute furry things.
9. He's really good at drawing complicated things.
9. He knows a LOT about birds.
10. He has an eye for detail!

Awesome American History: 1821-1835

 This covered Johnny Appleseed, the Erie Canal, and the Moon Hoax, pages 78-86 in The American Story by Jennifer Armstrong.

If you're not familiar with the Moon Hoax, it was the fake news of 1835. A newspaper wanting to boost circulation began "reprinting" a Scottish science journal detailing the amazing sights a new telescope had found on the moon.

 They had an endless supply of amazing finds, including furry winged people!

For our art activity, we did our own version with plain paper replacing a circle cut out of construction paper. 

Some of the kids did pictures on the front and back of the white paper, so that you could put it up to a window and see more things. 

 For our active activity we went on a bird walk like Audobon (from last week's activities).  We found about a dozen kinds of birds, and had a great time!

For our snack, we went with the song 15 Miles on the Erie Canal.  If you haven't heard the song (I had to sing it in grade school, and we did not sound anything like as good as that link), the chorus mentions that they hauled some lumber, coal, and hay.

So we ate lumber (pretzel logs), coal (chocolate chips), and hay (shredded wheat).   Possibly,all those years of doing gingerbread houses has warped my mind.

Back in Glorious Technicolor!

We're back in the blogging game, thank you Bill!  Many posts coming up!

Update on My Sad Photo Loading Problem

It was my network settings!  We have a complicated double network in our house, and, evidently, I can only print on one network, and only load photos on the other.  But that's ok, I can work with that.

Until my computer updates the next day and I can't load photos on either network again. :(

Working on it...

Poem of the Week: Pershing at the Front

Pershing at the Front

by Arthur Guiterman (1871-1943)
The General came in a new tin hat
To the shell-torn front where the war was at;
With a faithful Aide at his good right hand
He made his way toward No Man’s Land,
And a tough Top Sergeant there they found,
And a Captain, too, to show them round.

Threading the ditch, their heads bent low,
Toward the lines of the watchful foe
They came through the murk and the powder stench
Till the Sergeant whispered, “Third-line trench!”
And the Captain whispered, “Third-line trench!”
And the Aide repeated, “Third-line trench!”
And Pershing answered- not in French-
“Yes, I see it. Third-line trench.”

Again they marched with wary tread,
Following on where the Sergeant led
Through the wet and the muck as well,
Till they came to another parallel.
They halted there in the mud and drench,
And the Sergeant whispered, “Second-line trench!”
And the Captain whispered, “Second-line trench!”
And the Aide repeated, “Second-line trench!”
And Pershing nodded: “Second-line trench!”

Yet on they went through mire like pitch
Till they came to a fine and spacious ditch
Well camouflaged from planes and Zeps
Where soldiers stood on firing steps
And a Major sat on a wooden bench;
And the Sergeant whispered, “First-line trench!”
And the Captain whispered, “First-line trench!”
And the Aide repeated, “First-line trench!”
And Pershing whispered, “Yes, I see.
How far off is the enemy?”

And the faithful Aide he asked, asked he,
“How far off is the enemy?”
And the Captain breathed in a softer key,
“How far off is the enemy?”
The silence lay in heaps and piles
And the Sergeant whispered, “Just three miles.”
And the Captain whispered, “Just three miles.”
And the Aide repeated, “Just three miles.”

“Just three miles!” the General swore,
“What in the heck are we whispering for?”
And the faithful Aide the message bore,
“What in the heck are we whispering for?”
And the Captain said in a gentle roar,
“What in the heck are we whispering for?”
“Whispering for?” the echo rolled;
And the Sergeant whispered, “I have a cold.”

HT: Holy Joe

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Wordless Wednesday: St. John Paul II Shrine

Still Here

I'm not trying to take a break from blogging, I'm having problems getting Blogger to upload pictures.  Hopefully I'll be able to sort this out and I'll have a ton of posts for you!