Jack’s Winning Words 3/20/14
“If we had no Winter, Spring would not be so pleasant.”  (Anne Bradstreet)  Here in Michigan, the last time we had a winter like this one was in 1880-81.  Sometimes it takes contrast to help us see (and appreciate) more clearly.  Maybe “The Greatest Generation” benefitted from growing up in the Great Depression.  Otis Redding sings, “You don’t miss your water till your well run dry.”  This year, it’s gonna be a great spring!    ;-)  Jack

 FROM PAULELL:  As my mother use to say…”From your mouth to G’d’s ears!====JACK:  Was that used in terms of praying...or something else?

 FROM DOCTOR J IN OHIO:  For sure!====JACK:  How does Punxsutawney Phil know about the Vernal Equinox?  Did he sit in on one of your classes?====DR J:  I've sworn to secrecy on this!

 FROM TARMART REV:  We feel the same in Minnesota, Jack  . . . of course there are a few farmers worried that we didn't get enough moisture (just cold air and a little snow that it just now melting) as they had hoped for . . . but the good side of it, they keep us on our knees with something to always pray for!! ====JACK:  We've got a ditch in our front yard that's overflowing with water.  Now, if we could just figure out a way to get it to Minnesota. ====REV:  I have a pastoral friend out in California who shared they were in a devastating drought and to please pray for moisture . . . I along with you expressed a similar response . . . get all the trucks they could muster, drive to Minnesota, and we would be very happy to load them with all our snow . . . I know, Jack, then the farmers would really be upset!! 0;-/====JACK:  I once preached a sermon with the title..."Does it do any good to pray about the weather?"

FROM MP IN MICHIGAN:  "One thing I remember, Spring came on forever"   Do you know where this partial quote is found in the Township?====JACK:  If I were to guess, I'd say it's by the sculpture of the blue herons.  My 2nd guess would be...by the outdoor library sculpture of the children.  Regardless, the Vachel Lindsay poem, The Chinese Nightengale, is so good that I'm posting the last part of it.
Then sang the bird, so strangely gay,
Fluttering, fluttering, ghostly and gray,
A vague, unravelling, final tune,
Like a long unwinding silk cocoon;
Sang as though for the soul of him
Who ironed away in that bower dim: —
   "I have forgotten
   Your dragons great,
   Merry and mad and friendly and bold.
   Dim is your proud lost palace-gate.
   I vaguely know
   There were heroes of old,
   Troubles more than the heart could hold,
   There were wolves in the woods
   Yet lambs in the fold,
   Nests in the top of the almond tree …
   The evergreen tree … and the mulberry tree …
   Life and hurry and joy forgotten,
   Years on years I but half-remember …
   Man is a torch, then ashes soon,
   May and June, then dead December,
   Dead December, then again June.
   Who shall end my dream's confusion?
   Life is a loom, weaving illusion …
   I remember, I remember
   There were ghostly veils and laces …
   In the shadowy bowery places …
   With lovers' ardent faces
   Bending to one another,
   Speaking each his part.
   They infinitely echo
   In the red cave of my heart.
   `Sweetheart, sweetheart, sweetheart,'
   They said to one another.
   They spoke, I think, of perils past.
   They spoke, I think, of peace at last.
   One thing I remember:
   Spring came on forever,
   Spring came on forever,"
   Said the Chinese nightingale.

 FROM KF IN MICHIGAN:  Yay...it's here!!! I even looked in my herb garden for signs of life....nothin'.  ====JACK:  Maybe your herbs are in a different Thyme Zone.

FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY:  "Spring has sprung the grass has ris I wonder where the flowers is!?!"  Actually, I wonder when the huge pile of snow in our front yard will actually melt and I can get the last of the Christmas lights out from under the pile!====JACK:  How about your American flag?  Has it been flying during all of this unusual weather?===JUDY:  It with stood all of the storms except the last one.   We were supposed to get 4 to 7 inches but we got 12...even though the weather people didn't count it.  We also had very high winds and it cracked the pole!  No kidding.  So it's not flying right now, unfortunately.

 FROM RI IN BOSTON:  The four seasons exemplify the cycles of life.  It explains why grandparents are so fulfilled by the arrival of grandchildren.====JACK:  You've inspired me to turn on Vivaldi's Four Seasons which starts with Spring.  What great music!  Spring is something more than the weather.

 FROM FM IN WISCONSIN: What a great word for a person who is so tired of winter!    Thanks! ====JACK:  I'm sure you miss those winter trips you used to take.  Were they to the Alabama gulf coast?

FROM DB IN MICHIGAN:  And we will be even happier when we have brand new roads!!! ====JACK: Would you classify that as a want or a need?  Right now I'd be happy to have the potholes filled.

 FROM BLAZING OAKS:  Ah yes.."What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness?!" (John Steinbeck) We have had a gorgeous First Day Of Spring! Almost sixty degrees, snow melted, ice gone, and sunny all day! Tomorrow even warmer! Welcome  Sweet Springtime!! Loved the Vachel Lindsay poem. His home is an historic site in Springfield, Il, and have often gone there for various poetry readings, and historic plays and talks. He was an interesting person, who took his life, finally, but left a legacy of books and poetry.====JACK:  You can send that Spring weather to us...but send the tornadoes in another direction

 FROM SBP IN FLORIDA:   Yes, I believe that the Greatest Generation benifitted by the Great Depression...along with those that followed.  A couple of "connections". From Browning's Pippa Passes...."The Year's at the Spring"....and from Solomon's Song.... "For, lo, the winter is passed, the rain (snow) is gone(Don't we wish.); The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds has come and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land." And I believe that God created prodigious minds in the arenas of art, music, literature, clergy, architecture,on and on.....as gifts to us mere mortals.====JACK:  Ernie Harwell, longtime announcer for the Detroit Tigers, would always begin the first broadcast of the season by quoting those words from the Song of Solomon.  And, as the Caymanian said a couple of days ago in Winning Words..."God is good!"

 FROM CPA BOB:  I’m sure you’ve heard about the guy who was banging his head against the wall and he was asked why he was doing that. He said, “Because it feels so good when I stop.”====JACK:  I'm waiting for it to "feel good" when I go outside in the early morning to get the newspaper.

 FROM CS IN MICHIGAN:  AMEN!  We know it will be here soon!  When I moved here from Colorado, I noticed that I had never seen people enjoy spring like Michiganders!====JACK:  Only a few states get to enjoy the dramatic change from season to season, and Michigan is certainly one of them.