MY FAVORITE QUOTES

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Love is a fruit in season at all times, and within reach of every hand."

- Mother Teresa

"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts."

- Winston Churchill

"The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the grandest intention."

- Oscar Wilde

"Your imagination is your preview of life's coming attractions."

- Albert Einstein

"If you want to gather honey, don't kick over the beehive."

- Dale Carnegie

"The art of conversation lies in listening."

- Malcom S. Forbes

"Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom."

- Thomas Jefferson

"Where there is love there is life."

- Mahatma Gandhi

"What is death, but one second between life on this earth and a leap into the arms of God."

- Kahlil Gibrand

"The good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge."

- Bertrand Russell

"Never wrestle with a pig, because you just get dirty, and the pig likes it."

- Unknown

“Everything that is not forbidden by laws of nature is achievable, given the right knowledge.”

- David Deutsch

"The most rewarding things you do in life are often the ones that look like they cannot be done."

- Arnold Palmer

"A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new."

- Albert Einstein

"Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing."

- Benjamin Franklin

"The most worth-while thing is to try to put happiness into the lives of others."

-Robert Baden-Powell

Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing."

- Benjamin Franklin

"With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts."

- Eleanor Roosevelt

"We swallow greedily any lie that flatters us, but we sip only little by little at a truth we find bitter."

- Denis Diderot

"To handle yourself, use your head; to handle others, use your heart."

- Eleanor Roosevelt

"The good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge."

- Bertrand Russell

"Live so that when your children think of fairness, caring, and integrity, they think of you."

- H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

"The greatest enemies of success and happiness are negative emotions of all kinds."

- Brian Tracy

"Ignorance breeds monsters to fill up all the vacancies of the soul that are unoccupied by the verities of knowledge.”

- Horace Mann

"Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value."

- Albert Einstein

"And what is the purpose of existence… but to discover truth and beauty and…share it with others"

- Brenda Ueland

"Four things belong to a judge: to hear courteously, to answer wisely, to consider soberly, and to decide impartially."

- Socrates

"The best way to predict the future is to invent it."

- Alan Kay

"I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions."

- Stephen Covey

"Either you run the day, or the day runs you."

- Jim Rohn

"Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right."

- Henry Ford

"The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why."

- Mark Twain

"If you hear a voice within you say 'you cannot paint,' then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced."

- Vincent Van Gogh

"Since Auschwitz we know what man is capable of. And since Hiroshima we know what is at stake."

- Viktor Frankl

"The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Certain things catch your eye, but pursue only those that capture the heart."

- Ancient Indian Proverb

"Everything you’ve ever wanted is on the other side of fear."

- George Addair

"Love is never lost. If not reciprocated, it will flow back and soften and purify the heart."

- Washington Irving

"You can’t fall if you don’t climb. But there’s no joy in living your whole life on the ground."

- Unknown

My Current WoW

Talent Show

The Chesapeake’s Got Talent:
Finding the Spark That Never Fades

More... about Talent Show

Trippin’ With a Friend

Recently, my wife and I needed to make a trip to small town…

More... about Trippin’ With a Friend

My Favorite Photograph

There is a photograph I hold almost like a charm…

More... about My Favorite Photograph

My Loaf of Bread

In the quiet hours of night, when the world softens…

More... about My Loaf of Bread

When You’re Really Poor

When you grow up poor everything in your world seems just out of reach…

More... about When You’re Really Poor

My Favorite Song

Music has always been the heartbeat of my life…

More... about My Favorite Song

Laughing Out Loud

As a young boy, I grew up being told by my mother that…

More... about Laughing Out Loud

Look for What You Do Not See!

Life has taught me the importance of searching beyond what is visible…

More... about Look for What You Do Not See!

Living Time Capsule

Time, relentless in its passage, has etched its mark on this old soul

More... about Living Time Capsule

Guest Missives

My Close Call… by Jane Strebel

I remember him still: massive, intimidating, and totally fulfilling the expectations of his name. Samson...
More... about My Close Call… by Jane Strebel

Snake in the Grass… by Jane Strebel

From a child’s perspective, one of the greatest benefits of growing up on a farm...
More... about Snake in the Grass… by Jane Strebel

Guilty as Charged… by Jane Strebel

Grief and guilt are two little words that hold the misery of the world in...
More... about Guilty as Charged… by Jane Strebel

Sick Duck… by JoAnn

A couple of weeks ago, I awoke just before dawn to an unsettling noise. It...
More... about Sick Duck… by JoAnn

Setting The Alarm… by JoAnn

For years, from my teens to my 50s, I set an alarm clock every night...
More... about Setting The Alarm… by JoAnn

Something Odd… by JoAnn

Something odd happened to me today. I use a small, stainless steel electric percolator to...
More... about Something Odd… by JoAnn

Car Shopping… by JoAnn

This week, I found myself in need of a new form of transportation. My sweet...
More... about Car Shopping… by JoAnn

The Bike… by JoAnn

When I was around 6 or 7 years old, my sister got a new bicycle...
More... about The Bike… by JoAnn

Mama Boo… by Jane Strebel

She was a diminutive snippet of a woman, falling just short of five feet tall,...
More... about Mama Boo… by Jane Strebel

High-Times on the 4th Floor… by Larry Fields

Two weeks ago, I was released from BRMC (Bristol Regional Medical Center) after an extended...
More... about High-Times on the 4th Floor… by Larry Fields
A smiley face wearing a cowboy hat and bandana.

AS MY WORLD TURNS

CATS

Peace

 

I think a kitten’s sleep

is a form of prayer,

the soft pink nose

and pads of her feet,

the chin turned up to

reveal her white throat

the long tail wrapped

around her silver-gray body.

 “Sleeping for storm,”

I’ve heard it called.

 

Outside may be war and famine

and unspeakable cruelties

But here and now

in this little body

is peace.

 

 

  Foof, the Covid Kitten

 

I know he’s just

a fluff of dust in this vast universe,

but to me he’s so much more.

 

He came into my life

on a cold, dark day

when I was hollowed out by sorrow,

weary of the sad little rituals of my days,

sickened by the thought

of the thousands dying

for want of a little care.

 

My life was a dry, brittle shell

until my little cat leapt in

as if into a flowery meadow.

 

I love his velvety ears,

his amber eyes alight

with curiosity and mischief,

his black fur sleek as sealskin,

his prim white paws

that sneaked into my heart

until it was full to overflowing.

 

He can make a game of anything—

a random piece of ribbon,

an elusive dust bunny.

And oh his prodigious leaps

as he turns a half somersault in the air

in pursuit of his favorite toy!

 

And so he makes me laugh

in peals of sunlight.

Thus it is that joy can blossom

in the driest desert,

even the one in my heart.

 

   Notes to Self

 

Please note:

This is your cat.

He’s lying on the white blanket

at the foot of your bed,

the morning sunlight shining

through his translucent ears

and glancing off the silver streak

on his side

in a way it never has before

and never will again.

 

Please note:

This is his pose.

His front paws are crossed,

left on top,

and his long tail curls slightly

around his back legs

in a way it never has before

and never will again.

 

Please note:

This is your life—

not tomorrow afternoon,

not even ten minutes ago:

NOW.

~ Stephanie Sugioka ~

Recent Comments

  • Betty Berry on My Close Call… by Jane Strebel: “What a great story! I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. Thanks for sharing, Jane!Feb 1, 14:50
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