Showing posts with label poem. Show all posts
Showing posts with label poem. Show all posts

Monday, July 20, 2009

Yesterday's Stroll + A Poem



I started my Sunday Stroll (suggested by Aisling just click on her name) and I noticed this stunning yellow fire hydrant. I'm sort of glad it isn't in MY yard.



The neighbors who live here, have been working on their roof and I thought they were just replacing rotting shingles, but I was delighted to see this balcony they added. I like to think that someone poetic comes out here at night and dreams big dreams. Notice the glass balls.



This is a bike rickshaw and I have never noticed it before. Pretty, huh?



I have never seen people come in or go out of this house, but it is always dressed so festively and is always in perfect repair. It's a favorite of mine.



And . . . it is the only place I see Shirley Poppies. This year - just this one.



Reality: the fight against the hot weather. Not every one's garden is lush.



Hello, Bunny Number One!



And Bunny Number Two! Please don't hop up to my house and eat my pansies!



Some people make the most of our few bodies of water.



Thank you Dept. of Parks and Recreation, for watering our pretty park!



Let's go over the bridge! Watch out for the troll!



Let's stop and look down at the creek. Maybe we'll see a muskrat. I've only seen one, but let's hope!



Here's the rocky, tumble-y place where the creek falls.



A pretty hide-a-way!



A fun corner for summer yard games!



A small reminder that fall will come.







A house for a grandma





Wild in the suburbs




Let's take this scruffy path to the park!




If you feel like running and skipping (and singing The Hills are Alive) do it here!




Let's have some tea and a tiny muffin, do you want to?




Cool art for the kids, huh?





And here's the EARTH. Climb on!




Let's go over this bridge into the giant tree fort!







If you brought your roller blades, we can do some tricks here. Not me. I broke my wrist that way.








And here we'll stop to play checkers. The board is painted on our table!




And a Lake of Shining Waters!







I love how this landscaping surrounds the house like a fortress.





I think some super stars live here.





I know, I know, school starts soon.



Okay, dear house, I bless you.



A welcoming garden gate





I love the hollyhocks! They are high-flyers!




Up close and personal





Phlox! VERY pretty!



The eye of the squirrel!



Almost home! Hello, pretty tree!

And here's the poem I promised Aisling. It's a gift to her for her good idea of a bunch of Sunday strolls. I hope you'll go and take the other strolls, linked on her comments.

Wild Geese
by Mary Oliver

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting -
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.


Happy Monday!
xopp

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Lollies and Lovely Things



First of all, Bill has lollies for me! These are yummy treats that Anne (one of our Australian friends) buys for Bill when he stays with them. I can't find anything like them here, so I am so happy that in a little over a week . . . I can eat some. If Bill doesn't finish them off on the plane ride home, that is!



I thought I'd take you on a little garden tour. Even though I am just a tiny bit disappointed in some of my plantings, I still have many glorious sights around our little spot of earth.



We can't forget the greens! This shrub is the most delicious shade, isn't it?





Look at my neighbor's pretty cone flowers!




And between us, we have one sunflower bloom so far!





Another sweet shade of green!




She's a bit tattered and torn, but this day lily always appears in the front garden




Reve's lambie ears! Birdie likes these!




My little backyard buddies




The love doves! Did you know they mate for life - great idea!




These sweet marigolds are keeping the aphids off my squash!



Another generous lily




And what's a garden without a washing line?




Oh hang on! I have to stop and smooch Miz Bug!





And now on to some Skagit Valley sights - I'd like to dish up a grand bowl of strawberry shortcake for you because you are so nice!



Picture perfect, huh? Yes, Wilbur and Charlotte DO live here.



You need another look at the Cascade mountains



The Skagit River again - it really IS this color!




Come on! Let's go to lunch!





Please don't get tired of my Guemus Island hideaway




This is my uncle Don. He's been building this lovely boat for quite some time. He served as a Lutheran pastor before retiring and guess what? He married us!



And let's go kayaking!



Jack Island!

So, today I bombard you with photos of places and people I love. I DID enjoy reading Hind's Feet on High Places for a while today. More about that later. I found a really cool toy at the toy store and I am going to make a little video soon so you can see it. You'll LOVE it! I also went to the library and got lots of nice, fat books. Here's a list: God and Gold: Britain, America, and the Making of the Modern World, The Ghost in the Little House: A Life of Rose Wilder Lane, Anne Morrow Lindbergh by Susan Hertog, Jung, A Biography by Deirdre Bair, The Rural Life by Verlyn Klinkenborg, and When We Were Very Young by A. A. Milne. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the Guernsey book and I read that at night. I couldn't find as many WW II books as I thought I would. Our library rarely has the books I'm looking for on the shelves even though it is all sleek and fancy. I guess it is a good thing that people are reading though. Oh! I forgot to grab my camera on my walk today, but we're going again next week so I will have some amazing photos then. I leave you with this poem:

Vespers
by A. A. Milne
Little Boy kneels at the foot of the bed,
Droops on the little hands little gold head.
Hush! Hush! Whisper who dares!
Christopher Robin is saying his prayers.

God Bless Mummy. I know that's right.
Wasn't it fun in the bath tonight?
The cold's so cold, and the hot's so hot.
Oh! God bless Daddy - I quite forgot.

If I open my fingers a little bit more,
I can see Nanny's dressing-gown on the the door.
It's a beautiful blue, but it hasn't a hood.
Oh! God bless Nanny and make her good.

Mine has a hood, and I lie in bed,
And pull the hood right over my head,
And I shut my eyes, and I curl up small,
And nobody knows that I'm there at all.

Oh! Thank you, God, for a lovely day.
And what was the other I had to say?
I said, "Bless Daddy, so what can it be?
Oh! Now I remember, God bless Me.

Little Boy kneels at the foot of the bed,
Droops on the little hands little gold head.
Hush! Hush! Whisper who dares!
Christopher Robin is saying his prayers.

xopp

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