The Saunterer

Edward Shirley on Jack Frost

    The first patches of fall frost are appearing in fields near where we live. The grown-ups’ account of the cause, dew points interacting with temperatures, leaves us untouched. We want the children’s account. It’s rejuvenating. Here it is from a century-old children’s book of ours, by Edward Shirley:

Jack Frost.

When you’re safely tucked in bed,
And the stars gleam overhead,
Cold the night and crisp the air,
Goblin Jack is everywhere.

To and fro, without a sound,
Gleaming white he paints the ground,
Plies the brush all through the night,
Till the world is clean and white.

You may see when you arise
Fairy pictures from the skies,
Knight and castle, hill and plain,
On your frosted window pane.

    (Quoted from Jack Frost: and other merry sprites. Verses by Edward Shirley (pseud. of Sir James Edward Parrott), with pictures by Ruth Cobb. Thomas Nelson and Sons. London, 1905.)
    For a brief biography of Sir James Edward Parrott, click here.

E. B. White on the psychology of writing

    Nobody but a non-writer would deny this is the case:

    I’m glad to report that even now, at this late date, a blank sheet of paper holds the greatest excitement there is for me--more promising than a silver cloud, prettier than a little red wagon. It holds all the hope there is, all fears. I can remember, really quite distinctly, looking a sheet of paper square in the eyes when I was seven or eight years old and thinking “This is where I belong, this is it.” Having dirtied up probably a quarter of a million of them and sent them down drains and through presses, I am exhausted but not done, faithful in my fashion, and fearful only that I will die before one comes out right.

    (Quoted from page 189 of The Life of the Creative Spirit, by H. Charles Romesburg. Xlibris, 2001.)
    For a brief biography of E. B. White, click here. For images of or relating to E. B. White, click here.

John Muir on developers

    John Muir naturalists are those with John Muir’s beliefs, as extracted from his collected writings and applied to today. I have spoken for them in The Life of the Creative Spirit:

    For deciding the fate of natural areas, John Muir naturalists believe the one-person-one-vote principle suppresses total human happiness. Provided one has a working spirit, spiritual crimes are the most unbearable of all. To disintegrate nature more deeply wounds John Muir naturalists, more tears at their life basis, more weights them with permanent sorrow, and more risks civil disobedience, than stopping developing bothers developers.
    A thought experiment demonstrates. Assume it is announced that squirrels will be eliminated from earth unless some John Muir naturalists agree to go before a firing squad to guarantee eternal protection. Certainly there would be little trouble getting a thousand volunteers. Assume the opposite then, that development is to be banned unless just one developer goes before a firing squad. What developer would step forth, that unknown developers could continue their work?

    (Quoted from page 158 of The Life of the Creative Spirit, by H. Charles Romesburg. Xlibris, 2001.)
    For a brief biography of John Muir, click here. For images of or relating to John Muir, click here.

Reason number one for adopting black cats

    Life for the Saunterer has been increased by several black cats. He supports the Fayette Friends of Animals and its good people, whose 2012 autumn newsletter brings this:

Top 10 Reasons to Adopt a Black Cat

10. You’ll save $$ on their Halloween costumes.
 9. You can always find them in the snow.
 8. Holding a black cat is very slimming.
 7. Black cats will match any décor.
 6. A lint brush isn’t required for a black-tie affair.
 5. When you love a black cat, luck is on your side.
 4. Black cats are like onyx, a beautiful gem.
 3. Hey, they don’t care what color you are!
 2. Love knows no color.

And the number one reason to adopt a black cat:

 1. They are the least likely to be adopted.

    For the website of Fayette Friends of Animals, click here.