Seven Proverbs to Live by

1. Here and Now sing their duet. Someday-When can't carry a tune.
2. The imagination is the real nomad. Books are its goats. 
3. Lavish affection on your life, and on the people in it. 
4. Dearth is our teacher tomorrow, if we cannot learn from plenty today. 
5. Do it now, do it cheerfully.
6. By itself, money never spoke a word of hope. 
7. Difficulty breeds loveliness, beauty equals application of time.

HB

Five Proverbs from an Allegorical City

Fumigatio Via Dolorosa, believed by many to be the last ur-saint left in our city, was entreated (recently) by a group of enthusiastic pilgrims to share some guidance on how to live life. At first he insisted that it was impossible to truly teach wisdom, except perhaps wisdom of the musical kind; though even that, he said, could be accomplished only by means of a carefully systematized program of instruction (in both performance and appreciation) begun by pupils at an early age. 

When pressed however, he admitted that the following five proverbs, still current in one of the two dialects of the city, could be said to have originated with him:

1. The cartwheels of children light the sun.
2. Eat when you eat, sleep when you sleep.
3. The sweet ring of thought, dunked in the experience of the senses, suffices as enjoyment to the wise.
4. Consign clock and cares to the dusty shelf. 
5. The true book of faith is a lively romance.

“A great poet, whose work I love,” (he went on to say) “once said that it was impossible to live by more than a handful of proverbs. Choose this handful, and you will live a reasonably wise life. But above all, I prescribe good music; listen (whenever you come upon it) to good music, approaching it in the spirit of poverty and loss. Music is our most elemental muse, the art most reliably expressive of the nutritive deep. So music should be the worm ahead of you, as you seek the root-tips of the Tree.”

HB

Thirteen Ways to Identify a 9-volt Nomad

9-Volt Nomads:

1. Watch their bird feeders more than their televisions.
2. Are seen walking past the gas station, more often than they're seen pulling into it. 
3. Award themselves one point for making their own lunch, ten for growing it.
4. Prefer redwoods to skyscrapers. 
5. Play well with others.
6. Make far more love than money.
7. Would rather travel by book or by daydream, than by plane or by car.
8. Will look at a child and say "his/her future depends on my present choices."
9. Aspire to competent poverty. 
10. Place more trust in a bean seed than in the Federal Reserve.
11. Heartily enjoy a good nap.
12. Know that if the world is to be green, our hands must have dirt on them. 
13. Live by this proverb: "when you cannot afford real oranges, cheerfully substitute intangible tangerines."

HB

Until Tuesday the 26th!