A Thanksgiving time of year remembrance by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow:
"The Harvest Moon"
It is the Harvest Moon! On gilded vanesYou know that I have to get back to my dictionary obsession every once in a while, and today is the day. The etymology of thanks according to my trusty dictionary states that is derived from Old English from Old High German from the Latin word for to know. Now that is interesting. A search of to know led to thought which led to think which among its definitions is to reflect or ponder, to weigh in the mind which brings me back to my thoughts about time. As Longfellow said:
And roofs of villages, on woodland crests
And their aerial neighborhoods of nests
Deserted, on the curtained window-panes
Of rooms where children sleep, on country lanes
And harvest-fields, its mystic splendor rests!
Gone are the birds that were our summer guests,
With the last sheaves return the laboring wains!
All things are symbols: the external shows
Of Nature have their image in the mind,
As flowers and fruits and falling of the leaves;
The song-birds leave us at the summer’s close,
Only the empty nests are left behind,
And pipings of the quail among the sheaves.
All things are symbols: The external showsIn my book . . . I have to remember my posting on time:
Of Nature have their image in the mind
There is a time for everything . .
A time to throw away, a time to tear down, and a time to weep
but conversely
there is time to keep, a time to build,
and most importantly
a time to laugh!
To prevent becoming completely maudlin, a beloved memory
Five fat turkeys are we.This is from memory, so I am sure that it is only a paraphrase; but it was a favorite of my once upon a time kindergarten aged son and so brings about a time to laugh!
We slept all night in a tree.
When the cook came around,
We couldn’t be found.
That’s why we’re here you see!
