Perhaps for a moment the typewriters will stop clicking, the wheels stop rolling the computers desist from computing, and a hush will fall over the city. For an    [Continue reading]]]>
WINTER SOLSTICE

Perhaps
for a moment
the typewriters will stop clicking,
the wheels stop rolling
the computers desist from computing,
and a hush will fall over the city.
For an instant, in the stillness,
the chiming of the celestial spheres will be heard
as earth hangs poised
in the crystalline darkness, and then
gracefully
tilts.
Let there be a season
when holiness is heard, and
the splendor of living is revealed.
Stunned to stillness by beauty
we remember who we are and why we are here.
There are inexplicable mysteries.
We are not alone.
In the universe there moves a Wild One
whose gestures alter earth’s axis
toward love.
In the immense darkness
everything spins with joy.
The cosmos enfolds us.
We are caught in a web of stars,
cradled in a swaying embrace,
rocked by the holy night,
babes of the universe.
Let this be the time
we wake to life,
like spring wakes, in the moment
of winter solstice.

Rebecca Parker

Simplicity is making the journey of this life with just baggage enough. Charles Dudley Warner (1829-1900)

All right!   But I’m sorry to admit that up ’til then, I had no idea who Warner was (novelist    [Continue reading]]]> I was leafing through a magazine in someone’s office  yesterday and saw this quote superimposed on a photo of the great outdoors:

Simplicity is making the journey of this life with just baggage enough. Charles Dudley Warner (1829-1900)

All right!   But I’m sorry to admit that up ’til then, I had no idea who Warner was (novelist and essayist).  He sounded like a pretty cool dude, though, so he’s on my list for post-NaNoWriMo reading.  Seemed like we had a fair number of points of connection:  western Massachusetts, upstate New York, Unitarian, love of nature, humor.

Of course I see references to NaNoWriMo in EVERYTHING now, so here’s a quote I found from Warner that I think is applicable to writing dialogue:

Lettuce is like conversation; it must be fresh and crisp, so sparkling that you scarcely notice the bitter in it.

But this one is my favorite and I think it really captures some of my feelings about this whole experience and journey we have embarked on together.

Perhaps nobody ever accomplishes all that he feels lies in him to do; but nearly every one who tries his power touches the walls of his being.

Certainly this is true for me.  Thoughts?