TO-DAYSo here hath been dawning
Another blue day;
Think, wilt thou let it
Slip useless away?
Out of Eternity
This new day is born;
Into Eternity
At night will return.
Behold it aforetime
No eye ever did;
So soon it forever
From all eyes is hid.
Here hath been dawning
Another blue day;
Think, wilt thou let it
Slip useless away?
Thomas Carlyle 1795-1881
I walked along the river before work yesterday and enjoyed the beauty of the trees, sky and water. There was frost on the ground, the first of the season, and being out in the crisp fall air was a perfect way to begin "another blue day".
This poem is on the first page of my father-in-law's old school book, "The Ontario Readers Third Book." It was used in Ontario schools from 1925 to 1935 and the price for students was 14 cents. The book is filled with classic stories and poems which teach history, nature, patriotism and good moral values. I enjoy reading it through from time to time and wonder what this generation of middle elementary children would think of it.
Today you can download an e-version of the Third Reader at Project Gutenberg. Like many people, I spend more time online than I do reading bound books, although I am trying to reverse the trend. Computers and the internet have changed the way we entertain ourselves and the way we interact with each other. I started this blog a little over four years ago as a way to keep in touch with my widely scattered family and this is post #1000. But Facebook and Skype are the internet platforms we now use to communicate. In four more years it will likely be something else.
Blogging continues to be an enjoyable creative outlet. I have learned a lot about history, nature, patriotism and good moral values from other bloggers I follow in my Google Reader. (What would my father-in-law think of a Google Reader?!) The written word is still important no matter the format we use to read and write.
This poem is on the first page of my father-in-law's old school book, "The Ontario Readers Third Book." It was used in Ontario schools from 1925 to 1935 and the price for students was 14 cents. The book is filled with classic stories and poems which teach history, nature, patriotism and good moral values. I enjoy reading it through from time to time and wonder what this generation of middle elementary children would think of it.
Today you can download an e-version of the Third Reader at Project Gutenberg. Like many people, I spend more time online than I do reading bound books, although I am trying to reverse the trend. Computers and the internet have changed the way we entertain ourselves and the way we interact with each other. I started this blog a little over four years ago as a way to keep in touch with my widely scattered family and this is post #1000. But Facebook and Skype are the internet platforms we now use to communicate. In four more years it will likely be something else.
Blogging continues to be an enjoyable creative outlet. I have learned a lot about history, nature, patriotism and good moral values from other bloggers I follow in my Google Reader. (What would my father-in-law think of a Google Reader?!) The written word is still important no matter the format we use to read and write.
Your beautiful blue day certainly didn't slip uselessly away. That is a perfect fall image.
ReplyDeleteI too don't spend much time with books any more, and I own tons of them.
Congrats on making 1000 posts! That's a lot. I'm sure glad I found you online.
I love the Carlyle poem. I'm afraid he isn't read very much these days. Proud of you for keeping up your blog for so long. I have found that some people start one and then after awhile let it slip away.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on 1000 posts Ruth! I read as much as I ever did, though electronically now. And blogging has been such a creative outlet for me too. So glad you are here in this little piece of cyberspace. Have a glorious day!
ReplyDeleteCongrats! I am certainly thankful for each post you have written. They are beautiful, inspiration, informative and a pure delight. I look forward to the next 1000. It's the first thing I read each morning...it sets the tone for the day. Thank you for sharing!!
ReplyDeleteWow, 1000 posts! That's awesome. Sadly, I too don't read books as much as I used to, and probably spend too much time online - but my excuse is that it's just part of our evolution. What worries me is that creeping sense of panic when the power goes off and I can't use the computer!
ReplyDeleteCONGRATULATIONS!!! And what a wonderful photograph and poem to mark the occasion.
ReplyDeleteI spend much more time with books than with the computer. At my husband's insistence, I recently purchased a Kindle eReader. While I use it for convenience and lighter reading, I will still hold fast to my hardcover books. It's fine for fiction and it's great for poetry, but for non-fiction or complex fiction I need to hold the book in my hand.
Congrats on the millennium mark.
ReplyDeleteThat's a lot of cogitative thought.
May you have 1000 more.
Congratulations. It's amazing how the posts pile up. Bit by bit, it's a lot of writing.
ReplyDeleteIt was beautiful here yesterday too. Took the little ones for a walk and enjoyed the day thoroughly. Today will be a different story, I'm afraid.
Congratulations on your 1000th post-an amazing achievement! I've found your posts to be inspiring and informative over the years. Here's to the next 1000!
ReplyDeleteOur weather man forecast that you in the north will have a cold winter. Yesterday, in north China, there was so much snow.
ReplyDeleteLike you, I spend so much time on the computer that I don't read books much. I used to read at least twenty minutes in bed, but now, because I am at the computer so late, I lie down and listen to music.