In the dimmest of early morning light I watched a deer slowly work its way through the fallen branches, stones and muck out beyond the fence. White tail flickered and drew attention, just as a squirrel’s tail does, and I wondered at the similarities of these mammals who coexist in these woods. Each are seeking…
“Our winged thoughts are turned to poultry.” – Henry David Thoreau, Walking When you dig deep into Thoreau’s work you mine these little gems. It’s his reward for sticking with him as he crams his every thought onto the page. Every great book gets richer and more meaningful when re-read a second or third time….
“You have treasures hidden within you—extraordinary treasures—and so do I, and so does everyone around us. And bringing those treasures to light takes work and faith and focus and courage and hours of devotion, and the clock is ticking, and the world is spinning, and we simply do not have time anymore to think so…
“In the midst of this chopping sea of civilized life, such are the clouds and storms and quicksands and thousand-and-one items to be allowed for, that a man has to live, if he would not founder and go to the bottom and not make his port at all, by dead reckoning, and he must be…
“He is the best sailor who can steer within the fewest points of the wind, and extract a motive power out of the greatest obstacles. Most begin to veer and tack as soon as the wind changes from aft, and as within the tropics it does not blow from all points of the compass, there…
Looking out the window on a brisk morning on Cape Cod. Streaks of dark clouds mix with blue sky. Faint orange hints at the possibilities of the sunrise. It doesn’t look like a 10 right now, but it’s not a bust either. This sunrise has potential. Isn’t that the feeling we look for in every…
“Every morning I walk like this around the pond, thinking: if the doors of my heart ever close, I am as good as dead Every morning, so far, I’m alive. And now the crows break off from the rest of the darkness and burst up into the sky – as though all night they had…
“The truly efficient laborer will not crowd his day with work, but will saunter to his task surrounded by a wide halo of ease and leisure, and then do but what he loved best. He is anxious only about the fruitful kernels of time… Some hours seem not to be occasion for any deed, but…
Up early, reading some Robert Frost poetry I don’t remember reading before. I’m mesmerized by a line and read on. I get like this. Millions of songs on iTunes, and I’ve barely scratched the surface of what’s out there despite a lifetime focus on music. I’ve spent huge chunks of my time exploring new music,…
“Everything that is printed and bound in a book contains some echo at least of the best that is in literature. Indeed, the best books have a use, like sticks and stones, which is above or beside their design, not anticipated in the preface, nor concluded in the appendix. Even Virgil’s poetry serves a very…
