Trees

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.


By Joyce Kilmer.

_______________________________

This morning

"Every day is golden. Every moment is sweet and precious and meant to be lived." These are words my grandmother repeated again and again in her last years. I often had the feeling, when I heard her say them, that she was trying to instill this message in us. I know she was also saying it for herself. I always would smile and nod and agree, but a part of me wanted to take her by the shoulders and look her in the eyes, and say, " I get it, Grandma!" But I didn't say it, of course. Because she had a need to relate the message. It comforted her to relate the message.
So, having taken a two week break from my blog, I was thinking about a message to relate today. That is what got me thinking about the comfort found in relating a message, and about the need to relate a message. We all tell our stories to others as we are living them, whether consciously or not. Sometimes it is necessary to explain or divulge details. Other times it is quite enough to live one's life and let that living be the message.
This is my message to you: Don't worry about a thing. Every little thing is going to be alright.
(A little birdie told me so.)

Bear in the backyard

This bear wandered through behind our house yesterday evening, while we were about to enjoy dinner with friends:

Carbon Footprint

I used this site: http://www.earthlab.com/carbonprofile/LiveEarth.htm?ver=14 to calculate my family's carbon footprint. I'm looking at ways we can do our part to help save the Earth. I got this site from a book I am reading: Go Green, Live Rich. It has some great ideas for both newbies and those who want to delve deeper into all the ways we can save the Earth.
Although our carbon footprint isn't the worst, it could be better!! Mostly because we are a two car family, and I don't see that changing any time soon, given our circumstances. Guess we'll have to wait until the next time we buy a car to go hybrid. DH is intent on driving the current ones until they die. I am not of that mind. And so it goes.
Another thing we do too much of is travel by air. But now that prices are shooting up, we will be doing less of that, I imagine. Maybe once a year instead of two or three times.
(I am well aware that these are high-class problems, by the way.)
In the meantime, I will work on all the other ways we can reduce our footprint.