120 pounds of grapes, to which he will add sugar, for the November Arak.

THE LAKE ISLE OF INNISFREE
                      - William Butler Yeats

I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made:
Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee,
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.

And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;
There midnight's all a-glimmer and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet's wings.

I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,
I hear it in the deep heart's core.

It is my firm belief that the best way to fix the world—a handyman’s dream, if ever there was one—is to fix yourself. - Jordan Peterson

.......working on it!

Those were the days, my friend -

We thought they'd never end.

SHE WALKS IN BEAUTY
        - George Gordon, Lord Byron

She walks in beauty, like the night
  Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that's best of dark and light
  Meet in her aspect and in her eyes:
Thus mellowed to that tender light
  Which heaven to gaudy day denies.

One shade the more, one ray the less,
  Had half impaired the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress,
  Or softly lightens o'er her face;
Where thoughts serenely sweet express
  How pure, how dear their dwelling place.

And on that cheek, and o'er that brow,
  So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow,
  But tell of days in goodness spent,
A mind at peace with all below,
  A heart whose love is innocent!

(This will be the next poem I memorize)

To my Russian readers - 💖

You stared at me across a crowded room while this song played.

My wind-walled palace. This is where I like to spend  my mornings drinking coffee, reading, and writing, until it gets too hot for comfort. Peace and joy every morning......

My Perch. 💖

For the smokers among us,when there's only 1 or 2.

And for when there's a few.

This lovely old desk and solid old butcher block will eventually be a kitchen island. Going to strip and repaint the bottom, treat the butcher block, and put wheels on it.

And this beautiful old buffet, I will strip down to its dark wood, remove the doors. add a shelf in each compartment, and varnish the whole thing, to be a bookcase in my library. Wait til you see how pretty it will be!

Last night we had a cookout/brewing party for the staff at 602. A houseful of people! So much food, drink, and fun! Interrupted by a huge, sudden thunderstorm, complete with hail, that forced us to bring all operations to the front porch and inside. I was planning to have tons of pics, but didn't. I guess it's a good thing when you're so busy living your life that you forget to post it.  haha.....
This is Before and After. Dining room and front porch.

While we're on the subject.......

(BTW - not long ago while listening to this, Hubby turned to me and said, "She sounds like your mom."  Yeah, that's what I come from.)

Yeah, be Ella.

Be Frank. Be Ella. Be Satchmo. Be Barbra. Be Harry Connick. Be Lady Day. Be Chet. Be so many. 

From ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND
                                         - Lewis Carroll

'What matters it how far we go?' his scaly friend replied.
'There is another shore, you know, upon the other side.
The further off from England the nearer is to France -
Then turn not pale, beloved snail, but come and join the dance.
  Will you, won't you, will you won't you, will you join the dance?
  Will you, won't you, will you, won't you, will you join the dance?'

I just saw that I have readers in Russia! I'm so honored - welcome!  💖

The best contain all of the above. I mean below. lol. Sweet and savory. ;)

SHE ROSE TO HIS REQUIREMENT - DROPT
                                                - Emily Dickinson

She rose to His Requirement - dropt
The Playthings of Her Life
To take the honorable Work
Of Woman and of Wife -

If aught She missed in Her new Day,
Of Amplitude, or Awe -
Or first Prospective - Or the Gold
In using, wear away,

It lay unmentioned - as the Sea
Develop Pearl, and Weed,
But only to Himself - be known
The Fathoms they abide -

"Room Service"

GOD'S GRANDEUR
          - Gerard Manley Hopkins

The world is charged with the grandeur of God.
  It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;
  It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil
Crushed. Why do men now not reck his rod?
Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;
  And all is seared with trade, bleared, smeared with toil;
  And wears man's smudge and shares man's smell: the soil
Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.

And for all this, nature is never spent;
  There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;
And though the last lights off the black west went
  Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward springs -
Because the Holy Ghost over the bent
  World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.

They're almost ready! Yumm......

I live Where The Wild Things Are.

"We are more naked in our joy than in our sorrow."

By my dear friend Judy Okun, of Agave Artworks.  💖

Baby Girl and I watch as the flowers drink up the rain. We stick out our tongues and have a drink ourselves. We imitate the thunder. Sweet summer thunderstorm....

"Don't worry, Hon, I'll be okay.
I'll Irish everything for a day
Then I'll laugh and be on my way."

"Some day my ghost will stop showing yours around the closets and cupboards of my mind."

By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes.......

"We butter our plain bread with delicious pain"
Mr. Bradbury was one of the best writers who drew breath. 

When the family gathers at our house for a big dinner under the trees.

From THE DAILY STOIC

The simple life is defined by its simplicity. By its gratitude. By the ability to enjoy whatever is front of you, whether that’s millions of dollars or a nice chicken sandwich. It’s not a lack of money that we should we be pursuing, but a lack of angst, a lack of need, a lack of resentment, and a lack of insecurity. 

That’s the simple truth of what wealth is.

From APOLOGY

—if you would say to me with regard to this, “Socrates, for
now we will not obey Anytus; we will let you go, but on this
condition: that you no longer spend time in this investigation or
philosophize; and if you are caught still doing this, you will die —
if you would let me go, then, as I said, on these conditions, I would
say to you, “I, men of Athens, salute you and love you, but I will
obey the god rather than you;  
......and if you obey Anytus and slap me, you would easily kill me. Then you would spend the rest of your lives asleep, unless the god sends you someone else in his concern for you.

My heart, being hungry, feeds on food
The fat of heart despise.
Beauty where beauty never stood,
And sweet where no sweet lies.
I gather to my querulous need,
Having a hungry heart to feed.

It may be, when my heart is dull,
Having achieved its girth,
I will not find so beautiful
The meagre shapes of earth,
Nor linger in the rain to mark
The smell of tansy in the dark.
     - Edna St. Vincent Millay

 When my very young life was interrupted by tragedy, grief, and loneliness, I soon learned that there were places I could go in my mind, where I could build castles and tell stories. Those castles have only grown more beautiful with age. They color my perception of the world. ....... When I was in 7th grade I discovered this poem and related so strongly that I memorized it, determined to keep it with me always.  It's still with me, still feeds me. Thank you, Edna. Life is good.

The strawberry crop is coming in!  Haha - how cute is that!

Sunday Dinner with the whole family, except Yvonne, who's in Kentucky. Such a joy, to be surrounded by our kids!  💖

This little girl. 

"Your words have power. When you speak you shift the universe." ....... This was said to me yesterday after I read some of my poetry out loud.    I think this is true of all of us.

“When you need encouragement, think of the qualities the people around you have: this one’s energy, that one’s modesty, another’s generosity, and so on. Nothing is as encouraging as when virtues are visibly embodied in the people around us, when we’re practically showered with them. It’s good to keep this in mind.” - Marcus Aurelius

The obstacle is the way.

The Man

The rooms in my house. Ever a work of art, ever a work in progress....

"I knew how the clouds arise, spumèd of the wild sea's snortings...." 

A THUNDERSTORM IN TOWN
                        - Thoms Hardy

She wore a new 'terra cotta' dress,
And we stayed, because of the pelting storm,
Within the hansom's dry recess,
Though the horse had stopped; yea, motionless
    We sat on, snug and warm.

Then the downpour ceased, to my sharp sad pain
And the glass that had screened our forms before
Flew up, and out she sprang to her door:
I should have kissed her if the rain
    Had lasted a minute more.

I love the grape vine that serves as a curtain to our property. And this year, for the first time, it has grapes!  I live in the garden of eden.

I like this guy's stuff.

Music for when you're chillin'

Aguas De Marco (Waters of March)

A stick, a stone
It's the end of the road
It's the rest of a stump
It's a little alone

It's a sliver of glass
It is life, it's the sun
It is night, it is death
It's a trap, it's a gun

The oak when it blooms
A fox in the brush
A knot in the wood
The song of a thrush

The wood of the wind
A cliff, a fall
A scratch, a lump
It is nothing at all

It's the wind blowing free
It's the end of the slope
It's a beam, it's a void
It's a hunch, it's a hope

And the river bank talks
Of the waters of March
It's the end of the strain
The joy in your heart

Well, Peeps, I pulled it off!  The poem seemed to speak itself. With expression, with emotion. It was met with applause. Happy Lady here!
I'm still practicing it, because there's a couple other places I may be saying it. One for sure, in the community theater project my daughters are doing in Ausitn, and one other still possible.
So. Much. Fun. That poem deserves to be said aloud. I'm glad I had the opportunity.

EARTH-SONG
        - Ralph Waldo Emerson

'Mine and yours;
Mine, not yours.
Earth endures;
Stars abide -
Shine down in the old sea;
Old are the shores;
But where are old men?
I who have seen much,
Such have I never seen.

'The lawyer's deed
Ran sure
In tail,
To them, and to their heirs
Who shall succeed,
Without fail,
Forevermore.

'Here is the land,
Shaggy with wood,
With its old valley,
Mound and flood.
But the heritors?
Fled like the flood's foam. -
The lawyer and the laws,
And the kingdom,
Clean swept herefrom.

'They called me theirs,
Who so controlled me;
Yet every one
Wished to stay and is gone,
How am I theirs,
If they cannot hold me,
But I hold them?'

When I heard the Earth-song
I was no longer brave;
My avarice cooled
Like lust in the chill of the grave.

Today's the day! Tonight I will recite (perform) the 182-line poem I've memorized. To say I'm nervous would be the understatement of the year. God help me to do it justice.

This one: (and with all due humility, I think when I don't miss any words, I do it better, in some ways, than this master.)

Resting my brain, waiting for lunch to be ready, listening to Getz/Gilberto. Perfecto.

THE TABLES TURNED
     - William Wordsworth

Up, up! my Friend, and quit your books;
    Or surely you'll grow double:
Up, up! my Friend, and clear your looks
    Why all this toil and trouble?

The sun, above the mountain's head,
    A freshening lustre mellow
Through all the long green fields has spread,
    His first sweet evening yellow.

Books! 'tis a dull and endless strife:
    Come, hear the woodland linnet
How sweet his music! on my life
    There's more of wisdom in it.

And hark! how blithe the throstle sings!
    He, too, is no mean preacher:
Come forth into the light of things
    Let Nature be your teacher.

She has a world of ready wealth,
    Our hearts and minds to bless -
Spontaneous wisdom breathed by health
    Truth breathed by cheerfulness.

One impulse from a vernal wood
    May teach you more of man
Of moral evil and of good
    Than all the sages can.

Sweet is the lore which Nature brings;
    Our meddling intellect
Mis-shapes the beauteous forms of things; -
    We murder to dissect.

Enough of Science and of Art;
    Close up those barren leaves;
Come forth and bring with you a heart
    That watches and receives.

Only 40 lines to go, memorizing my poem! I think I've got this - although the grand baby is coming to spend the weekend, so I won't have a lot of free time. But I think I'll be okay. ...... Boy it's gonna sound GOOD. 

And then to go home to this one. Life is good.

What a joy, to introduce a 10-year-old to this story for the first time!

"Even the linked fantasies, in whose blossomy twist
I swung the earth a trinket at my wrist,
Are yielding; cords of all too weak account
For earth with heavy griefs so overplussed."
                         - Francis Thompson

Good morning

   Dearest peeps I've been quiet because I've been working hard on finishing memorizing the 182-line poem that I'll be reciting at the poetry circle next Tuesday. I still have 48 lines to go - that's eight lines a day. To be stuck in my mind so firmly that when I recite, I'll be telling a story, not trying to remember things. I did what I know so far, for Hubby last night, didn't miss a beat, and he said, "I was there!"  Exxxcellent.......  I'm excited. Inviting family and a few friends to what is usually a small meeting. If I pull it off, it will be a good performance.
   I'm thinking about recording it. We'll see.....
   

Haiku by my 10-year-old student, Jerome Knopik

The trees are so green.
The wind makes them dance for joy.
They are essential.

That dog. Hobbes. Just walks in like he owns the place, and NEVER shuts the door behind him. Sheesh. He thinks the rules don't apply to him, just because he doesn't have thumbs!

from THE DAILY STOIC

Eat and Be Merry

A few years ago a study by Brad Bushman at Ohio State University found a link between low blood sugar and arguments between spouses. It pretty much confirms the experiences of anyone who has ever been in a relationship and found themselves fighting right around lunch or dinner time for no good reason. The colloquial term for this? Being hangry. And it can ruin relationships, friendships, and generally make you a jerk. 

The funny thing is that even the Stoics knew this and warned against it. As Seneca wrote:

“Hunger and thirst must be avoided...they grate on and inflame the mind. It’s an old saying that quarrels are sought by the weary’ just as much, too, by the hungry and the thirsty, and by every man who yearns for anything.” 

So conquering your temper and being kind and respectful and fair is not simply a matter of your mind. How you treat your body affects how your mind operates (another study shows that judges are more merciful after lunch). We know this regardless of what the studies show. When we feel good, it’s easier to be good. When we are rested, it’s easier to be patient. Your tone will be softer when your stomach isn’t growling, and you’ll make better decisions when your energy levels are better. 

This means that we have to take good care of ourselves. We have to eat right. We have to keep to a smart schedule. We have to know our physical limits. All of which, of course, requires the use of our mind now...so that our body isn’t at odds with it later. 

 

What a joy to meet the Lokhandwala family, from India, whose Dad I've played Scrabble with for at least five years, and whose oldest daughter, Zahra, just graduated from college in Dallas! We had a lovely visit and lunch at the pizzeria.
I love breaking the cyber barrier......

Annie's Mallard Fillmore

"In a lesser musician that boy's attitude would be needy masquerading as arrogance."
                                                                                               - Lisa Simpson

from SONGS FROM THE WOOD BETWEEN THE WORLDS

Maybe....

Francis Thompson anthropomorphises Nature
or maybe
Every Anthropos with any sense follows suit with Nature.

TREES
   - Joyce Kilmer

I think that I shall never see   
A poem lovely as a tree.   
   
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest   
Against the sweet earth's flowing breast;   
   
A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;   
   
A tree that may in summer wear   
A nest of robins in her hair;   
   
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;   
Who intimately lives with rain. 
   
Poems are made by fools like me,   
But only God can make a tree.

from SONGS FROM THE WOOD BETWEEN THE WORLDS

Maybe.....

The Universe goes on Forever
And so does every other universe
Parallel lines of reality, like a music staff.
Beautiful harmony.

And occasionally intersecting?
Skillfully bent note.

OFT IN THE STILLY NIGHT
                  - Thomas Moore

Oft in the stilly night
  Ere Slumber's chain has bound me,
Fond Memory brings the light
  Of other days around me;
  The smiles, the tears,
  Of boyhood's years,
 The words of love then spoken;
  The eyes that shone,
  Now dimmed and gone,
 The cheerful hearts now broken!
Thus, in the stilly night,
  Ere slumber's chain has bound me,
Sad Memory brings the light
  Of other days around me.

When I remember all
  The friends so linked together,
I've seen around me fall,
   Like leaves in wintry weather:
      I feel like one
     Who treads alone
  Some banquet-hall deserted,
     Whose lights are fled,
     Whose garland's dead
  And all but he departed!

Thus in the stilly night,
  Ere Slumber's chain has bound me,
Fond Memory brings the light
  Of other days around me.

Breakfast in a bottle. It's coffee and toast all at once. :)

from THE DAILY STOIC

Think about the last time that someone made you upset. What did they say? What did they do? Now think back: How did you react? What did you say? What did you feel?

Now think about the situation another way: If, when that provocation came, you had given yourself space to pause, could you have controlled your reaction? Could you have stayed sober and calm in the face of their hysterics and yelling? Could you have kept your head about you?

Marcus Aurelius said, “You have power over your mind—not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.” Viktor Frankl talked about how between stimulus and response, we have space, and in that space, we determine not just our response, but who we are. 

What we’re doing here is trying to train ourselves to do that. All this reading, this writing, this stepping back and reflecting on our patterns of behavior--it’s for a purpose. It’s to improve that default response. So that while others give themselves over to their emotions, we can keep any destructive emotions in check. As they freak out, we can calm down. That’s the whole point of Stoicism: to restore the power over your mind to the only person who ought to have it—you.

Graffiti in Austin, Texas....