Dear friends,
This is what I agree with so I've had it on my bulletin board and on my wallfor years. Now I just made it one of my signatures on emails. Ithink many of you will like it, too, so I'm sending it today.
"...to live content within small means; to seek elegance
rather than luxury and refinement rather that fashion; to
be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not rich; to
listen to stars and birds, to babies and sages with open
heart; in a word, to let the spiritual unbidden and
unconscious grow up through the common."
Ralph Waldo Emerson
I've a book by Emerson and I think it's about time I read in
it again. Our good friend Harry has Emerson as his ideal.
Harry dropped in unannounced on Saturday morning. We were
both in pyjamas and dressing gowns, drinking coffee and readingthe Saturday paper. It was a very good visit.
One thing he shared in part of a conversation was something
that happened when he was a tiny child. There was to be
afternoon coffee at his parent's house and many relatives
gathered around the long dining room table with its leavesinserted to make room for them all. One dear aunt had a giftfor the tiny boy. It was a nice big bag of his favourite
home-baked cookies.
The little one, about two years old, was so happy that he wentaround the table of happily conversing adults and offered oneto each of them and when he gave the last person a cookie heput in his tiny hand for one for himself and there were noneleft! His face grew very astonished and the others realizedwhat was going on so they rushed from their chairs to comfortthe little one and some put unbitten cookies back into hisbag.
Harry is a very tall, large man. He looks like a Viking
with his large head, freckles, blue eyes and formerly brightred hair. It was easy to imagine the tiny boy and his surprisedlook when there wasn't a cookie left. I thought you would
enjoy this story of something that happened about 76 years agoin Germany. The practise of afternoon coffee is still enjoyedthere. Ben's mother treated us to it every afternoon wheneverwe visited.
Warmly, Mary