Tonight October 7th is the first of three consecutive supermoons. This lunar occurrence is rare. It happens when the full moon coincides with a moon being in the closest proximity to Earth.
The Corn, Barley and/or Harvest moon can sometimes be the same thing. Depending where you go for info.
Traditionally , the Harvest Moon is the one closest to the Autumn equinox around Sept 22nd. Which make it in September or October. October sounds late for harvesting, doesn’t it? That’s all been done and dusted for a while now.
The Hunters Moon, which October usually brings sounds more apt- the gathering of meat to store for the colder months. It’s easily done when the fields have been pretty much razed to the ground, and wildlife has nowhere to hide..no way of getting from A-B safely.
Tonight, it will be billed as The Harvest Supermoon…but it won’t stop hunters from going out, though, will it? 😭
You may remember me mentioning Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers once or twice before now. To that, I’ll add Post Malone, this time.
And my parchant for The Pre-Raphelites..today I will add Frédéric Leighton, who was around at the same time as the Brotherhood but had a complicated relationship with them. Maybe his style bothered them?
Flaming June, by Frédéric Leighton
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So, with the DP now answered, I have the time and space to post another favourite poem..yes I’ve posted this before, too. But why not?
Lesuire
WHAT is this life if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare?—
No time to stand beneath the boughs, And stare as long as sheep and cows:
No time to see, when woods we pass, Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass:
No time to see, in broad daylight, Streams full of stars, like skies at night:
No time to turn at Beauty’s glance, And watch her feet, how they can dance:
No time to wait till her mouth can Enrich that smile her eyes began?
A poor life this if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare.
Without one shadow of a doubt, writing is the answer to todays DP. Having said that, Emily Dickinson will take the stage with one of her beautiful poems.
Hope is the thing with Feathers
Hope” is the thing with feathers – That perches in the soul – And sings the tune without the words – And never stops – at all –
And sweetest – in the Gale – is heard – And sore must be the storm – That could abash the little bird That kept so many warm –
I’ve heard it in the chillest land – And on the strangest Sea – Yet – never – in Extremity, It asked a crumb – of me.
It’s so easy to become possessed by our possessions. ‘ Stuff’ just accumulates. It happens. But the older I get, the more miminalism appeals to me.
Two years back, when I was due to move home ( again) I had the luxury of the space, time, and the wherewithal to finally gather all my belongings together. ( Some had been in store for a long time)
There was an area in the garden used for composting and a fire pit. I went through old paperwork/admin with a fine toothcomb and burnt a pile. Old diaries, notebooks, negatives. So much hard copy.
William Morris once suggested that to have nothing in your home that is not beautiful or useful ( or words to that effect). I took that on board in a big way, and over a month or so gave at over half of my possessions to the Air Ambulance charity. Unwanted furniture and white goods collected by the British Heart Foundation. ( Yes, it does bother me the BHF suits take home fat pay checks – but it worked for me at the time). I gave boxes of lovely clothes to a young woman who I believed would appreciate them for her shop or sell online,help her family to pay some bills… ( After prompting from outside, she thanked me but never replied to a follow-up text( another story) Nice.
So, with less of everything, I moved to where I am now. I have gifted items, a few precious old photographs, a couple of pictures I love, and now just a tiny collection of books.
A ring left to me by my mom. 💜
There are a few pieces of clothes I like, and my multi- weather dog walking kit is invaluable. I have my birkies and odds and sods useful for my everyday existence.
I wear a piece of cremation jewellery. A small silver vial holding the ashes of a beautiful dog Tony, who once upon a time shared and shaped my life.
The rest you can have. Except Patch that is …and my tablet….or my wheels.
What’s a topic or issue about which you’ve changed your mind?
‘ Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything’.
~ Bernard Shaw 1856-1950
Bernard Shaw, Irish Playwright and Critic
When I first read the DP, I wasn’t quite sure what to say ( yeah, I know, that’s a first, lol) because I change my mind…or at least rearrange and alter my thoughts a lot. Especially now that I actually have the time to be still and see the big picture.
And what I see is quite staggering. A short while ago, the DP was about stuff we wish we had learnt earlier in life. My response then was that I wish I had known all those years ago that things are not always as they seem. The time and emotions I’ve wasted is quite something. Best not to dwell on it, really.
I love the expression ‘every day is a school day’ because I want to keep moving forward, updating myself, growing, living, learning, and changing my mind.
As writers, we are lucky to be able to put our thoughts down in black and white and then ponder them….
…it’s not yet 5am and I’ve already changed my mind several times this morning about whether should I get up now or not..and if so what to have for breakfast.
Bernard Shaw was asked towards the end of his life.. … “What would you do if you could live your life over again?” Shaw replied with a deep sigh : “I’d like to be the person I could have been but never was.”
And now I shall lay in the dark. Listen to the howling wind out there and feel the cool breeze on my face…..The birds will be hungry once the storm subsides.
When some one has slipped you the dirk in the dark, When eyes that are loving are lies, When some one you trusted has made you a mark, And somehow the heart in you dies, There’s dirt for you, hurt for you, trouble enough To shatter the faith of a man; But don’t ever think there is trouble so tough That you can’t overcome it—you can.
When living is losing its flavor to you, When worry is making you old; When there is no joy in the thing that you do Nor truth in the thing you are told, There’s balm for you, calm for you, out in the wild, There’s hope for you up on the hill. Get up in the timber and play like a child; You can overcome it—you will.
Get up in the timber; the trail and the trees Will make you a man in a day. The smell of the soil and the breath of the breeze Will blow all your troubles away.
There’s pine for you, wine for you, hope for you there—
The sun and the moon and the star—
If the ways of the city are not on the square, Get up in the woods—where they are.
Your life without a computer: what does it look like?
WP, I am going to take it to mean any device with Internet access?
A ‘ computer’ to me is a desktop. In fact the word itself sounds a bit dated since ‘ device’ stepped into the ring.
The first known use of the word was in 1613 by English writer and poet Richard Braithwaite ( 1588-1672) in his book The Young Mans Gleanings. ( A collection of religious essays) At this point in history, computers were people who carried out calculations by hand. So it’s quite valid to think the word sounds a tad dusty.
To today, listen up WP. I have spent most quite a chunk of my life without the Internet, so don’t think for one minute I am about to give it up… It’s way too precious.
I’ve stepped back from scrolling and the Socials. If I want to hang out, I’ll come here to DP@WP. If I want to be creative and write, check out a weather forecast, how to get from A-B, have some screen time, find out how best to cook something, touch base with peeps in the UK and overseas, book myself in for a restyle, a how-to on YouTube, Shazam part of a soundtrack, listen to music, test my grey matter, look up doggie issues, support charities, ask when something opens or closes, the definition of this or that etc, etc, etc…… You get my drift? It’s all there.
You ask how our lives would be without computers? ( Which has just made me think of a medical professional I’m getting to know here….His work life is tough enough. Without Internet access, it would be unbelievably compromised.)
So thank you. I am sure it would all be very Zen for a second or two, but I’m too curious about life and the natural world to let it go now. It’s where I get some light.
Of course, like anything, there is the other side of the coin, and I get to see and read about all the darkness, too. Those swinging dicks I sometimes write about. The megalomaniacs daily destroying everyone and everything in their wake for power and with greed, regardless of the consequences.These individuals fire up the rage my heart and soul at the injustice. That they, just a handful of absolute A Holes, can ruin the lives of so many, whilst making themselves rich…and being able to sleep at night!
IN THE BOOMER PIGEON HOLE? 