The word of the day for June 23, 2008 is "unsullied" — adjective — : not spoiled or made impure.
There's something about opening a new tub of butter or a new can of coffee. OK, so I'm just wierd. When I was five, I went to morning kindergarten. One winter day, it snowed while we were in class. On the way home I had to pass a ditch that was just perfect. No person or dog or bird had put their mark on that dip and mound of snow. Something told me that a snow angel or three was what this expanse of snow needed more than anything. So I provided those snow angels and got home too late to do something my mother wanted us to do. She fussed about the snow in my galoshes. "But it was snowing out," I explained innocently. It was worth the spanking.
A week ago Saturday morning, I took the pup for a walk. The sun was just right and a hint of breeze kept it cool. No one was out because they were sleeping in. It was way too early for lawn mowing. In some ways that's the best part of the week. Birds singing, but no dogs bark. Rabbits and squirrels going about their business. Just me and the dog, and he's not putting in his two cents so I can let my mind roll on as the song goes. It's a walking meditation.
We turned the corner and... The neighbor's mimosa trees had bloomed overnight.
I wish I could post the glorious smell.
Our quote for the day—which doesn't fit the mood, but is such an interesting thought—is from Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860), German philosopher. Originally published in Parerga and Paralipomena, vol. 2 (1851). “On Psychology,” Essays and Aphorisms, Penguin (1970):
True, genuine contempt, which is the obverse of true, genuine pride, stays hidden away in secret and lets no one suspect its existence: for if you let a person you despise notice the fact, you thereby reveal a certain respect for him, inasmuch as you want him to know how low you rate him—which betrays not contempt but hatred, which excludes contempt and only affects it. Genuine contempt, on the other hand, is the unsullied conviction of the worthlessness of another.
;^) Jan
3 comments:
How I enjoyed your wee walk this morning. It is the thing I think I miss most about not being able to do...just that.. seemingly simple thing of taking a lovely long walk....yes I can and do go for "walks" with the wheelchair but it is not the same you can't do it spontainously you have to think it all out...will I come to gates...stiles..will there be obsticles like tree trunks, will it be muddy.. and so it can go on, mostly one sticks to the usual places like parks, when I would really rather walk in the woods or somwhere like that..or imagine being able to walk along the beach dipping my toes in and out the water at will.......AH well there you are you've set me of on an early morning walk....even if it was in my imagination !!!
Of course all my walks will be in the early morning whilst everything is unsullied by other folks walking about and leaving their litter everywhere ! Much Love Sybil xx
I used to do early morning walks years ago when I could get out, now now. However, I sometimes get up at dawn and go and sit and look at the garden, sometimes go out into it. I marvel at the colours of the sunrise, hear the song of the awakening birds, feel the due. All is calm, all is tranquil, all is beautiful. I wish I could smell those Mimosa trees as well especially as they look so beautiful and we do not have them over here.
http://journals.aol.co.uk/jeanno43/JeannettesJottings/
... first, I have YET to read a Schopenhauer quote that I didn't like ... his view of the world and men, to me is unsullied by the emotions of the heart, which cloud and changes the view we have of the world ...
... loved the snow angel story ... sounds so cool ..!
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