I Just Called to Say I Love You

"I Just Called to Say I Love You" by Stevie Wonder was one of my mother Evelyn's favorite songs. Listen to it now.

A Face Devoid of Love

A face devoid of love or grace,

A hateful, hard, successful face,

A face with which a stone

Would feel as thoroughly at ease

As were they old acquaintances --

First time together thrown.

Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)

(This poem is in the public domain.)

The face of my hateful younger brother Roger:

"A face devoid of love . . . "

Friend

Don't walk in front of me -- I may not follow.

Don't walk behind me -- I may not lead.

Walk beside me --

And just be my friend.

Albert Camus

Bread Upon the Waters

 THE FINAL SAY

Quotations (from the Bible and James Baldwin)

in a pair for comparison

Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days.

     --The Bible: Ecclesiastes 11:1 (King James Version)

In other words:

People who treat other people as less than human must not be surprised when the bread they have cast on the waters comes back to them, poisoned.

     --James Baldwin (1924-1987)

Read more about James Baldwin.

The Great Stone Face

One afternoon, when the sun was going down, a mother and her little boy sat at the door of their cottage, talking about the Great Stone Face. They had but to lift their eyes, and there it was plainly to be seen, though miles away, with the sunshine brightening all its features.

And what was the Great Stone Face?

So begins Nathaniel Hawthorne's classic short story "The Great Stone Face." To read the answer to the question above and to read the story in its entirety, click here.

Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864)

(Photo by Mathew Brady)

The Butterfly Magnet

In my small bathroom

I allow

no silverfish, no

pests, just one

butterfly.

The butterfly in the photo above

is a magnet that once belonged

to my dear departed Aunt Mildred

and that now belongs to me.