Life as I know It

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San Luis Obispo, California, and South Bristol, Maine, United States
Author ~ Illustrator ~ Lecturer

Monday, December 28, 2009

A Little Song of Life



"Glad that I live am I;
That the sky is blue;
Glad for the country lanes,
And the fall of dew.

After the sun the rain,
After the rain the sun;
This is the way of life,
Till the work be done."

Lizette Woodworth Reese


"After the rain the sun." Thank heavens. When we go through a particularly bad spell, it is a relief and a blessing to think of those words. I love this poem, "A Little Song of Life," from one of my favorite books (given to me by one of my best friends, Marilyn) Silver Pennies-Modern Poems for Boys and Girls, published in 1933.



Tonight we will take down our little living tree and tomorrow we'll plant it outside our front door. It is a bittersweet time for me, thinking of the promises of the new year, but wondering-WHAT HAPPENED TO 2009???? I keep asking myself if I'm wasting too much of the precious time I have left, but I guess it is not wasting time when you're enjoying every step of the journey.



This morning I continued our family tradition of cutting the bare and sleeping branches of a fruit tree to bring indoors. Although these twigs look lifeless, I know that in a few weeks, in the middle of a dark and cold day, tiny bundles of green life, and tissue paper petals of white will fill our home with the promise of spring.

Until next time, I thank you all for your friendship and for your long letters and e-mails.

Happy, healthy, and peaceful New Year,

Sharon

12 comments:

FlowerLady Lorraine said...

What a lovely, uplifting little poem. Love the little views in your home.

Have a wonderful 2010.

FlowerLady

Dawn said...

Sharon,
I understand your bittersweet feeling about the new year. I, too, sit here and know that I could have used my time in 2009 more wisely and productively. And I hope to do better in 2010. Will I remember this feeling of regret throughout the next year? Hopefully.
I love your family tradition. Good idea. I think I'll try bringing some wild cherry branches in. And January is the month I buy hyacinth and tulips; they keep hope alive for a new beginning.
Sending you love,
Dawn

Kat said...

I love that cutting branches from your fruit tree is a family tradition. Growing up our father would have tanned our hide if we had taken branches off a tree that would soon produce fruit. Still, there were those branches that somehow broke and we just had to bring inside.
Have a wonderful 2010 Sharon.

tamlovesran said...

What happened to 2009? I'm asking myself the same thing! Let's make the most of 2010.

Courtney at SL's No Ennui said...

Ah, what a great idea! Buy a living Christmas tree and PLANT it for the new year! And aa lovely metaphor as well!

Anonymous said...

Hi Sharon, thanks so much for visiting my seashell blog. I replied to your question about the Jingle Shells there. (I am signed in under my New England blog) What a lovely poem and beautiful pictures of your place. I will be visiting again.

Brenda@CoffeeTeaBooks said...

I love that poem!

I cannot wrap my mind around the fact we are ending the first decade of the "new" century.

It didn't dawn on me until my son went to an "end of decade" party his Department at the University held a few weeks ago.

Michela said...

Hello Sharon, thank you so much for your lovely comment, wishing you a wonderful and healthy New year!

Janna Leadbetter said...

What a beautiful and renewing post! I understand, too, the need to look back and wonder over months past. I think that helps set us on the right path forward.

Thanks for visiting my blog Something She Wrote today! It's always great to connect with others, and I love your blog here. I've always had a dream of visiting Maine, so this is kind of like a peek. :)

Morwenna Hill said...

Happy New Year Sharon! Thank you so much for your lovely comment on my blog :) Thank you also for the inspiration, I am looking forward to bringing some sleeping branches into our home to brighten up the Winter months ahead
Love Morwenna xoxo

Aunt Jenny said...

Happy New Year Sharon! I loved that you also bring in soon to be flowering fruit branches. I love to do that..and hadn't thought of it yet. I usually do it in late January..Just love those March blossoms at a time when we can't yet plant anything outside. Isn't it a miracle?
I am really amazed at the speed that 2009 went by also!
have a wonderful week!!

Linda Hoye said...

What a lovely tradition of bringing in fruit branches! Like hope on a dark dreary day, of a spring yet to come!