Little corners like this

I love this poem- especially the 3rd stanza.

Any Morning
William Stafford

Just lying on the couch and being happy.
Only humming a little, the quiet sound in the head.
Trouble is busy elsewhere at the moment, it has
so much to do in the world.

People who might judge are mostly asleep; they can't
monitor you all the time, and sometimes they forget.
When dawn flows over the hedge you can
get up and act busy.

Little corners like this, pieces of Heaven
left lying around, can be picked up and saved.
People won't even see that you have them,
they are so light and easy to hide.

Later in the day you can act like the others.
You can shake your head. You can frown.

Summer

So summer is here. I think we almost skipped spring this year... as soon as the snow was all melted, it was in the 80s and 90s here, and we all started glowing with sunburns.

It's been a beautiful month and I think it'll be a glorious summer. Some of my plans include:
-earning some money (housekeeping, maybe some yard work for some folks)
-helping Mom with her garden (plan to start planting tomorrow or the next day)
-studying math
-keeping up on Latin
-helping the kids with their writing (hopefully getting some of them insterested in creative writing with weekly assignments. Last week was a lot of fun and I might post some of their things here)
-doing things with my dog (I've been running/walking every morning so far)
-visiting with people I've been missing!
-helping at my grandparents (cleaning/fixing up their house that was so ruined by the fire they had)
-music practice
-sewing sundresses for Lydia and Naomi for the 4th of July (I have some cute red kerchief fabric picked out for it) and maybe working on my redwork quilt or some shower gifts
-helping put on a shower for Vicki's baby
-spending lots of time with Vicki and Ben when baby shows up (her due date was the 17th, so we are impatient!!)
-doing lots of fun cooking
-swimming (last summer when we went to Moscow, I realized there are almost no creeks, rivers, ponds or lakes around there. I love home!!)

I just found out that I recieved a grant for most of the school year's tuition, and am rejoicing in that blessing! Things have worked out (God's hand is everywhere) even smoother this year than last year!!

Japanese poems

Haiku is from the Japanese. Here are a couple little poems I found in my anthology of world poetry that are very haiku-ish. Translated by Arthur Waley:

Princess Daihaku (7th century)
How will you manage
to cross alone
the autumn mountain
which was so hard to get across
even when we went the two of us together?

The Priest Hakutsu (about 704)
O pine tree standing
at the side of the stone house,
when I look at you,
it is like seeing face to face
the men of old time.

Untitled
If only, when one heard
that Old Age was coming
one could bolt the door,
answer "not at home"
and refuse to meet him!

Nakatsukasa (between 883 and 946)
If it were not for the voice
of the nightingale,
how would the mountain-village
where the snow is still unmelted
know the spring?

Lordship, Muffins, Poetry

Satan has no power. We will clobber him with a verse. -from an African Zulu hymn

Tuesday morning we had a lecture by Peter Leithart. He was talking about the Christian faith in Africa, which apparently is growing leaps and bounds and is a very vibrant and important thing that affects all of life- unlike here where religion is relegated a little corner of your life, to many professing Christians. This quote from a Zulu hymn was one of a few he read to us. I love its triumphant ring, its trust in the overwhelming work of Christ. He is Lord of heaven and earth.

Today we went to the Appel's house for our recitation and quiz. Mrs. Appel had tea ready for us, as usual, and while we waited for her husband to get home from a meeting, she chatted with us. Then she pulled muffins from the oven with huge blueberries in them, and we ate them while we talked to Mr. Appel about our readings. They were delicious. And I'm going to miss Thursday afternoons there.

Tomorrow we have a paper due. But we also have Disputatio which is going to include a talk from an editor of a big poetry magazine. I'm excited to hear him... and hope there will be some actual poetry included in this Disputatio as well!