Three Simple Pleasures: Afternoon Nap, Reverence for the Everyday, Winter Break

another Christmas with family back in the day.

1. School for 2009 ended today at noon.  I tried to do a few tasks when I got home, then realized I needed a nap. Have you ever taken a nap in the afternoon that felt like it was one of the best sleeps you have had in a long time. That was my nap today.

2. JEJ brought home a Billy Collins book of poetry I had requested from the library. I have read The Trouble With Poetry before, but wanted to revisit the poems again. On the front jacket part of the description explains why he is one of my favorite poets.  His poems contain " quiet observation, intense wonder, and a reverence for the everyday. See below for  one of the poems I reread today.

3. I look forward to Winter Break.  I have a pile of books ready to read, recipes ready to try, family to visit, a greenhouse to enjoy, and many pictures to take.

The Trouble With Poetry

I wonder how you are going to feel

when you find out

that I wrote this instead of you.

that it was I who got up early

to sit in the kitchen

and mention with a pen

the rain-soaked windows,

the ivy wallpaper,

and the goldfish circling in its bowl

Go ahead and turn aside,

bite your lip and tear out the page,

but, listen -- it was just a matter of time

before one of us happened

to notice the unlit candles

and the clock humming on the wall.

Plus, nothing happened that morning--

a song on the radio,

a car whistling along the road outside--

and I was only thinking

about the shakers of salt and pepper

that were standing side by side on a place mat.

I wondered if they had become friends

after all these years

or if they were still strangers to one another

like you and I

who manage to be known and unknown

to each other at the same time --

me at this table with a bowl of pears,

you leaning in a doorway somewhere

near some blue hydrangeas, reading this.

 -Billy Collins