Quote of the Day

"If you describe things as better than they are, you are considered to be a romantic; if you describe things as worse than they are, you will be called a realist; and if you describe things exactly as they are, you will be thought of as a satirist."

-- Quentin Crisp

Shoveling Snow with Buddha

In the usual iconography of the temple or the local Wok
you would never see him doing such a thing,
tossing the dry snow over the mountain
of his bare, round shoulder,
his hair tied in a knot,
a model of concentration.

Sitting is more his speed, if that is the word
for what he does, or does not do.

Even the season is wrong for him,
In all his manifestations, is it not warm and slightly humid?
Is this not implied by his serene expression,
that smile so wide it wraps itself around the waist of the universe?

But here we are, working our way down the driveway,
one shovelful at a time.
We toss the light powder into the clear air.
We feel the cold mist on our faces.
And with every heave we disappear
and become lost to each other
in these sudden clouds of our own making,
these fountain-bursts of snow.

This is so much better than a sermon in church,
I say out loud, but Buddha keeps on shoveling.
This is the true religion, the religion of snow,
and sunlight and winter geese barking in the sky,
I say, but he is too busy to hear me.

He has thrown himself into shoveling snow
as if it were the purpose of existence,
as if the sign of a perfect life were a clear driveway
you could back the car down easily
and drive off into the vanities of the world
with a broken heater fan and a song on the radio.

All morning long we work side by side,
me with my commentary
and he inside the generous pocket of his silence,
until the hour is nearly noon
and the snow is piled high all around us;
then, I hear him speak.

After this, he asks,
can we go inside and play cards?

Certainly, I reply, and I will heat some milk
and bring cups of hot chocolate to the table
while you shuffle the desk,
and our boots stand dripping by the door.

Aaah, says the Buddha, lifting his eyes
and leaning for a moment on his shovel
before he drives the thin blade again
deep into the glittering white snow.

--Billy Collins

Stripes with Plaid

Last year, in a fit of desperation at being unable to find a pair of grown-up girl shoes my size in any store at the mall, I bought a cheap plasticky pair of loafers out of the little girl section. When I saw REI had an online sale on Dansko clogs my size last month, I snapped up a pair for casual business work day wear.

I was glad to set aside the little loafers, with their heart-and-key charm accents. However, I have discovered that most of my pants have been hemmed while wearing some other pair of shoes. I am waiting for certain coworkers to tease me about wearing floods. The comfy Danskos seem to show an inordinate amount of sock.

This is fine by me, because I love socks. I have an entire drawerful of socks that have been longing to see the light. Holiday socks, traditional Scandinavian patterned socks, socks with cardinals and pine boughs on them, socks with cats and fish on them, socks I knit myself with deliberately mismatched stripes. All now much more on display than before. The rooster socks have been worn so much they're threatening to chicken out at the heels.

In the absence of any plain socks, today I opted for this combination of argyle socks with striped trousers. They remind me of a favorite quotation, which I've posted before but deserves to be repeated:

Once you can accept the universe as matter expanding into nothing that is something, wearing stripes with plaid comes easy.

– Albert Einstein

Tulips

"You cannot grow tulips from zucchini seeds, or peace from murder."

-- Anne Lamott

Quote of the Day

Once you can accept the universe as matter expanding into nothing that is something, wearing stripes with plaid comes easy.

– Albert Einstein

On This Day, I Quote George Gordon, Lord Byron

Through life's road, so dim and dirty,
I have dragg'd to three and thirty.
What have these years left to me?
Nothing - except, thirty-three.

And a cat who's chewed out half her fur, a dad who sings to me on my voice mail, and a toaster oven with a timer that only sometimes works.

Quote of the Day

"Nanotechnology is really huge."

Autumn

Hear our prayers for healing the
wounds of the past seasons.
Open our ears to the rutting sounds
of the elk and the moose.
Our eyes to the clouds of migrating birds,
and our hearts to stillness.
West Wind, below through us. Bring us your
blessings and your wisdom.

-- Susan Chernak McElroy, Why Buffalo Dance

Quote of the Day

We are here on earth to fart around. Don't let anybody tell you any different.

-- Kurt Vonnegut

Quote of the Day

"There are only two or three human stories, and they go on repeating themselves as fiercely as if they had never happened."

-- Willa Cather

O for a voice like thunder, and a tongue
To drown the throat of war! - When the senses
Are shaken, and the soul is driven to madness,
Who can stand? When the souls of the oppressed
Fight in the troubled air that rages, who can stand?
When the whirlwind of fury comes from the
Throne of God, when the frowns of his countenance
Drive the nations together, who can stand?
When Sin claps his broad wings over the battle,
And sails rejoicing in the flood of Death;
When souls are torn to everlasting fire,
And fiends of Hell rejoice upon the slain,
O who can stand? O who hath caused this?
O who can answer at the throne of God?
The Kings and Nobles of the land have done it!
Hear it not, Heaven, thy Ministers have done it!

-- William Blake, prologue to King Edward the Fourth

Also performed as "Lullaby" by Loreena McKennitt.

Quote of the Day

Where there is an art, there is a science.
Where there is a science, there is an art.

Art is feeling.
Science is fact.
Feelings must be combined with fact before anything new of value can be created.

Science and art are inseparable in creative development.

-- Alden B. Dow

From the latest newsletter from Flying Sheep Yarns.