DECEMBER 3, 2020 – It is wonderful some days to watch the multi-coloured leaves dancing in the wind when a gust sends them twirling and flying up into the air. Sometimes a squirrel will take advantage of the almost bare lawn and scurry around under the flying leaves to find a little goodie to munch on.
Watching all this reminds me of a poem my sister Alberta used to love. She called me up one day and said that there was a poem she had learned in grade school about the leaves and the wind and asked if I could find it for her. It was easy to find on the Internet.
“Come Little Leaves” was written by George Cooper (1840-1927). It has 5 verses. Here are the first and last:
“Come Little Leaves”:
“Come little leaves,” said the wind one day.
“Come o’er the meadows with me and play.
Put on your dresses of red and gold,
For summer is gone and the days grow cold”.
Dancing and whirling, the little leaves went.
Winter had called them, and they were content.
Soon, fast asleep in their earthy beds,
The snow laid a coverlid over their heads.
This little squirrel is trying to find something good to eat now that some of the leaves have been blown away.
Limericks are so much fun. Here is a cute one:
” Remember when you were 16
On your first date as a teen
At the movies? If yes
Then I bet you can’t guess
What was shown on the cinema screen.”
Dr. Nat Shah will be celebrating his birthday on Dec. 2nd. We wish him all the very best and a very Happy Birthday.
I especially like this photo of Dr. Shah because he seems to be enjoying playing his music and looks so relaxed and happy.
Our very talented Cornwall artist Brenda Connelly has painted a lovely scene of three birds soaring through the air.
Brenda said that some years ago she went on a trip out west. One day when she was walking she saw a black and white bird with a long tail. She had never seen one before and wanted to take a photo. The bird had other ideas and flew away. When she returned home, she went to the library and learned that the bird was a Magpie. The book also said that there is a similar type of Magpie which is blue, white and black. At a glance she thought it was a Blue Jay but it is called an Asian Magpie.
She also learned that the Blue Jays are equal in proportion whereas the Asian Magpies and the Black and White Magpies have longer tails and shorter bodies. To Brenda, Nature is a work of art – naturally. When she saw the similarity of the Asian Magpies and our beautiful Blue Jays she decided that she wanted to paint a Magpie and enjoy all the wonders art has to offer plus the challenges of just trying to paint it. Here is her lovely painting of a Magpie and two in the distance.
Photo courtesy of Bob Katz
Thanks Brenda for sharing your lovely painting with us.
Two little articles on phrase origins from a friend:
At local taverns, pubs, and bars people drank from pint and quart-sized containers. A bar maid’s job was to keep an eye on customers and keep the drinks coming. She had to pay close attention and remember who was drinking in ‘pints’ and who was drinking in ‘quarts’, hence the term “minding your P’s and Q’s”.
And this one is fun:
Common entertainment included playing cards. However, there was a tax levied when purchasing playing cards but only applicable to the ‘Ace of Spades’. To avoid paying tax some people would purchase 51 cards instead. Yet, since most games required 52 cards, these people were thought to be stupid because they weren’t ‘playing with a full deck’.
Some seniors have been talking about how much they miss their cars. Some gave them up for medical and /or financial reasons. One lady said she would just love to get in her car, put in a CD and go for a ride by herself. Now it is bus or taxi transportation or if you are lucky, they said, a friend or relative may give you a lift. All said they want to be careful because of the COVID virus and flu at this time of year.
Here are some cute Ponderisms from a friend:
1) I used to eat a lot of natural foods until I learned that most people die of natural causes.
2) Why do you have to “put your two cents in”…but it is only a “penny for your thoughts”? Where’s that extra penny going? (taxes)
3) What disease did cured ham actually have?
4) How is it we put a man on the moon before we figured out it would be a good idea to put wheels on luggage?
5) Why is it that people say they “slept like a baby” when babies wake up like every two hours?
6) If a deaf person has to go to court, is it still called a “hearing”?
7) Why are you IN a movie but ON TV?
8) Why do people pay to go up tall buildings and then put money in binoculars to look at things on the ground?
9) Why is a “bra” singular but “panties” are plural.
10) How did the man who made the first clock know what time it was?
Have a good week