Daffodils Indeed!

Daffodils

I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine

And twinkle on the milky way,

They stretched in never-ending line

Along the margin of a bay:

Ten thousand saw I at a glance,

Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they

Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:

A poet could not but be gay,

In such a jocund company:

I gazed--and gazed--but little thought

What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude;

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the daffodils. 

William Wordsworth

Antigonish

This has been going through my head all day :  As I was going down the stair, I passed a man who was not there.

So I had to look it up and found so much more, the name of the poem is Antigonish and the author is Hughes Mearns.  He wrote it in 1899 and it was inspired by reports of a ghost in a house in Antigonish Nova Scotia.  I count this as something new I learned today.  Quite a while ago I started a notebook and that's what I devoted it to, new things I learned each day.  I wonder where that notebook went?  Probably turned into a calorie counter or Weight Watchers points journal. Oh well, here's the poem in its entirety and as you can see, the part that was running through my head?  It was running in the wrong direction.

Yesterday, upon the stair,
I met a man who wasn't there.
He wasn't there again today,
I wish, I wish he'd go away...

When I came home last night at three,
The man was waiting there for me
But when I looked around the hall,
I couldn't see him there at all!
Go away, go away, don't you come back any more!
Go away, go away, and please don't slam the door...

Last night I saw upon the stair,
A little man who wasn't there,
He wasn't there again today
Oh, how I wish he'd go away..

 I would have put a picture of that guy here but . . . . . . he wasn't there!!

From the Annals of Time

I'm finding all these old rants that I filed away in my documents file.... how great that I can unearth them and how sad that all these years later - - - they're true. Don't have a date one this one but I think it was 2008. Wow and wow . How crazy is this??? Six years later it's here and it's bad.

From time to time I read current events on the various blogs available on the net. Actually, I must admit, I am obsessed. I cannot start the day without a zoom through the various places I always visit. I’ve written about this before and so let me reiterate, I have news blogs, plain old blogs, blogs of the soap opera type, blogs by shrinks, health blogs and religious type blogs. I am a blog nut. In order to shorten my morning fix I have a must see folder and today they are all abuzz with the John Doe amendment in some bill that the Dems voted overwhelmingly to cut. The amendment protected whistleblowers actually. When you see something suspicious you say something and it’s checked out and if it’s nothing the person or people you reported go on their way. Some go on their way to sue the whistleblower. This amendment protected the snitchers from those lawsuits which would probably whine that they were picked on due to their size, shape, color, religion etc. Never would the snitching be based on legitimate cause for concern such as the Fabulous Flying Imams and the actions they were taking to draw attention to themselves, get that report in and get a huge publicity campaign and lawsuit cooking.

What is the thinking behind the vote that was just taken? We’ll never know the truth so we are left to speculate and naturally, human nature being human, we think the worst. I have to go pray and read the Gospel of Mark. I am going all the way through start to finish and obsess about the Good News rather than the state of affairs in Washington DC. Bless you all. God is still on His throne.

Just read a blurb on NRO by Kevin D. Williamson. He referenced a news report as follows:

HAVANA (AP) - Cuba has ordered jailed punk rocker Gorki Aguila, an outspoken critic of Fidel Castro and the communist government, to stand trial on Friday for "social dangerousness," a charge that could carry up to four years in prison.

This was preceded by the statement that All You Punks in Your Che T-Shirts ... should have a look at what your heroes do when they have the opportunity:

I had an epiphany. Of course! What has taken me so long? These advocates of brutal killers and dictators are merely showing us what they want our world to be like. Any one who dares to disagree or think differently than the Che lovers will be arrested and beaten and - - -whatever it takes. The devotees of those petty and brutal tyrants would never see themselves as outside the circle of power. They would be wielding the whips and rods as they stride through the streets. They would be wiping that smug self satisfied smile off of the faces of those others who think they are better than ... well, you get it. They are merely playground bullies who have never had the support of anyone around them to allow them to bully without consequence.

We live with our own potential Taliban. That curtain of civility that separates us from barbaric behaviour is getting thinner and thinner. Take a look at Canada and what they have done with their hate speech nonsense. There are boards empowered to hold hearings based on a complaint brought by anyone. The accused must hire legal defense although the board is under no legal restraints or held to any rule of law. The accuser doesn't have to spend a penny to ruin someone because that person has a stray thought about whatever the accuser says offends him or her.

No criticism allowed! Or else! The Obama followers are thrilled! Finally they glimpse that power seat they have wanted forever as being within reach. Bill Ayers is more than likely frothing at the mouth anticipating finally reaching the goal he set for himself way back in the 60's.

OK it's a conspiracy theory but there is some truth to it...especially that idol worship of dictator thing. I really do think that

Spring is bustin' out all over

March came in like a lion.... a whippin up the water in the bay.  Then April tried and stepped aside