Poetry Wednesday: L*O*V*E

I know it's commonplace now to use Shakespeare for any and all love topics and I'm being totally unoriginal by using one; but this sonnet is so wonderful simply because it's not full of fluff and is just so realistic and funny! Ahhh, I love reading it. And I really love reading it out loud! The days before LOL and BTW were part of our vernacular....
That "thing" that drew Matt and I together has always been our shared humor which makes this so much more fitting. It reminds me of the first time I heard "Funny Valentine" sung by Frank Sinatra. I swore that if Matt ever sang that to me we'd have to box it out! :) We had a laugh over it... Anyway, I will stop rambling and let you read!

SONNET 130
My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips' red;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damask'd, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
I grant I never saw a goddess go;
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground:
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare. 

The View From my "Office"

It's amazing to me how God has created us with a built in need for a little of the wilds to be with us or near us at all times. Some may argue that they are "city folk" and don't long for the outdoors, but will covet their dog or plants with as much fervor as any backpacker or hiker of their favorite trails. In the late winter, when the grey skies and dreary cold seem to smother and choke with their weight and the snowfalls are seemingly unending, I struggle so much with the blues and blahs and the "woe is me's." I'm constantly attempting to remind myself of my blessings and remember reasons to laugh. Ah! I feel so guilty for being down for such a silly thing. Though I admit, it does make starting Lent a more somber time filled with the seriousness and solemnity that it should contain, and makes Pascha that much more joyful when accompanied by spring.
I took this picture on a day given by God as respite from the dreary season we are in. I was able to open my windows and drink in the sun like a man drinking in water while in the desert. So refreshing it was! It made me smile, as does the poem I found for Poetry Wednesday (again, sorry I'm late).

North Wind
by Debbie Ouellet

Stepmother’s-breath
hissing through barren boughs
dispensing discontent,
cold as a witch’s kiss.

Scandalmonger of the fields,
grips ragweed by the forelock
to lay across the line
and beat away the dirt.

Hickory switch,
finger wagging
at a giggle of snowflakes
leapfrogging through ochre fields
and playing knock-knock—

upon her parlor door.

5/365 and last picture till Matt returns home from CO!

4/365 Courage
Ella getting ready to do her somersault with the aid of the teacher.

The pictures are blurry and taken through a window but they so caught the excitement of Ella's first day of gymnastics. I think we finally found the niche my Ella will love! Part monkey like her father, she enjoys climbing any and everything she can and has been bursting at the seams with excitement to learn how to do a cartwheel. It will be exciting to see her blossom in this environment.

So I haven't give up on the picture project. I've been taking one a day, but haven't formally stuck into my routine enough yet for me to remember to upload them to the blog. This week Matt is gone on a snowboarding trip to CO and has taken the camera (and my pics with him) so I will have to catch up next week. I will persevere! :)