Gray Days

The skies may meet in sadness,

The blustering winds may blow;

But if our hearts are cheery

There's sunshine where we go.

–anon

Words from my new/old book "When All is Sun Within". I love this book, Coleman and I have read through many of the prose and verse within. Some of them make us giggle a little. They are from another century, after all. I imagine they were first written in pen and ink on stiff, lovely paper. Careful marks placed on the paper, with a rather scratchy sound. The sound I hear as I write is the satisfying click-clack of the keyboard. And with a swift click of the mouse I can publish these words. I wonder how Adah Louise Sutton got her collection of prose and verse published. She was a woman in 1913, I don't imagine it was an easy task. They were not her own words, though the ones without credit for authorship, perhaps were. Certainly it took more effort than it takes me each week to collect my scattered thoughts and arrange them on the computer monitor and click-bham! I'm published.

My friend Phylis requested images of the gray skies which she knows exist here: frequently. I'm happy to oblige, we've got them aplenty, my friend. It is certainly more sunny and reliably comfortable up and over those Santa Cruz Mountains in Sunnyvale. . . Enjoy

This is the prose that made us giggle this week:

You owe cheerfulness to yourself, to your friends, and to your God; without it you are a bore and a procrastinator, and had better make a companion of yourself, because others don't want you.

I think we giggled because it was so frank. A blunt instrument, though not as blunt as some commonly use language we hear these days. I liked the sentiment, and read it several times over to Coleman. For good measure, as we both could use some more cheerfulness in our days. An infusion of cheerfulness would be a good thing right about now. Sun Within.

Tell me what this trio is doing alone on the beach?

It can be very difficult to get out of bed on those gray mornings, indeed. Especially with a fuzzy warm dog to keep you cozy.