Ducks

Jean Baptiste Oudry – Ducks Resting in Sunshine, 1753

When God had finished the stars and whirl of coloured suns
He turned His mind from big things to fashion little ones;
Beautiful tiny things (like daisies) He made them, and then
He made the comical ones in case the minds of men
Should stiffen and become
Dull, humourless and glum,
And so forgetful of their Maker be
As to take even themselves – quite seriously.

Caterpillars and cats are lively and excellent puns:
All God’s jokes are good – even the practical ones!
And as for the duck, I think God must have smiled a bit
Seeing those bright eyes blink on the day He fashioned it.
And He’s probably laughing still at the sound
that came out of its bill!

F.W.Harvey

♥♥♥

Bothering

Did you ever stop to think, and forget to start again?

It is more fun to talk with someone who doesn’t use long,
difficult words but rather short, easy words like
“What about lunch?

“When you wake up in the morning, Pooh,” said Piglet at last,
“what’s the first thing you say to yourself?”
“What’s for breakfast?” said Pooh. “What do you say, Piglet?”
“I say, I wonder what’s going to happen exciting today?” said Piglet.
Pooh nodded thoughtfully. “It’s the same thing,” he said.

If the person you are talking to doesn’t appear to be listening, be patient.
It may simply be that he has a small piece of fluff in his ear.

Sometimes, if you stand on the bottom rail of a bridge and
lean over to watch the river slipping slowly away beneath you,
you will suddenly know everything there is to be known.

Rivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there some day.

Don’t underestimate the value of Doing Nothing, of just going along,
listening to all the things you can’t hear,
and not bothering.

“It’s snowing still,” said Eeyore gloomily.
“So it is.”
“And freezing.”
“Is it?”
“Yes,” said Eeyore. “However,” he said, brightening up a little,
“we haven’t had an earthquake lately.”

A bear, however hard he tries, grows tubby without exercise.

 A.A. Milne, Winnie the Pooh

♥♥♥

Bother

Museum of Childhood
The Christopher Robin Story Book showing the Winnie-the-Pooh characters at the Enchanted Place. Drawn and signed by E. H. Shepard, about 1928

“Bother.”

A quotation is a handy thing to have about,
saving one the trouble of thinking for oneself.

The things that make me different are the things that make me.

If ever there is tomorrow when we’re not together…
there is something you must always remember.
You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem,
and smarter than you think.
But the most important thing is, even if we’re apart…
I’ll always be with you.

You can’t stay in your corner of the Forest waiting for others to come to you.
You have to go to them sometimes.

Just because an animal is large, it doesn’t mean he doesn’t want kindness;
however big Tigger seems to be, remember that he wants as much kindness as Roo.

“I don’t see much sense in that,” said Rabbit.
“No,” said Pooh humbly, “there isn’t.
But there was going to be when I began it.
It’s just that something happened to it along the way.”

Pay attention to where you are going
because without meaning you might get nowhere.

 A.A. Milne, Winnie the Pooh

♥♥♥

Here and there

Vahram Davtian

From there to here,
from here to there,
funny things are everywhere!
Dr. Seuss

And this August they are not only here,
but mostly there -

♥CoffeeCup

♥Colours

♥TeaTime

Time you enjoy wasting,
was not wasted.
John Lennon

The only way to get through life is to laugh your way through it.
You either have to laugh or cry.
I prefer to laugh.
Crying gives me a headache.
Marjorie Pay Hinckley