Morning at the Window By T.S. Eliot

I just read Morning at the Window and I really love how full of imagery this short poem was. I live out in the country, so foggy mornings are fairly common in the fall and early spring. I have experienced several foggy mornings in the city before we moved as well, and I really love how Eliot described it from the viewpoint of the window. 

"They are rattling breakfast plates in basement kitchens,

And along the trampled edges of the street

I am aware of the damp souls of housemaids 

Sprouting despondantly at area gates.

The brown faces of fog toss up at me

Twisted faces from the bottom of the street,

And tear from a passer-by with muddy skirts

An aimless smile that hovers in the air

And vanishes along the level of the roofs."

I think it is interesting how the "window" describes everything it sees. This poem is very beautiful and it is easy for the reader to picture the sights in their mind as they read. My favorite line from this poem is "I am aware of the damp souls of housemaids", I feel like that alone gives the entire poem a very dreary and sort of "rainy-day" mood. 

Tom and Huck

Spring is coming, and everything is starting to change and wake up after winter the way it always does. The winds are warming up and soon leaves and flowers will start to bud on all the trees. I don't often have the time to just stop and catch my breath and enjoy all the changes and the beauty outside, but today I did. When I was doing this I noticed how little I think of the fact that it was exactly one year since I had stood on my steps looking out in anticipation of spring. And in that one short year me and my family have changed so much. My brothers especially.
Asher, my second youngest brother is reading The Adventures of Tom Sawyer now and he loves it. He came to me the other day and brought to my attention the similarities between him and my youngest brother, and Tom and Huck. I realized how well written those characters were and how they were perfect examples of young boys and their inclinations toward mischief and adventure. I thought it was fascinating how he drew that connection and I started to think about how authors will model their characters to be someone the reader can identify with. Mark Twain did this very well and my brother thought so as well. I thought that this was interesting to think about and thought that the timing was pretty good seeing as how we had The Adventures of Huck Finn in one of our Pods.

Nothing Gold Can Stay

I have just done some of the homework on Robert Frost's poems, specifically "Nothing Gold Can Stay." I love this poem, it has always been a favorite of mine. The meaning behind it is so beautiful and melancholy. "Nature's first green is gold, her hardest hue to hold. Her early leaf's a flower, but only so an hour. Then leaf subsides to leaf. So Eden sank to grief, So dawn goes down to day. Nothing gold can stay." This poem has come to mean so many things to me throughout the years, the first time I read it I was probably 11 years old. The poem really stuck with me all these years, but the thing I love about literature is how much it "changes", or rather the way we interpret it changes, as we grow and mature through the years. When I was young I actually thought the poem sounded hopeful, now I have a hard time getting past "Nothing gold can stay". But it makes me appreciate the beauty of the "gold" while I can.

This is a picture of Rocky, our faithful, old puppy, he left us today on the anniversary he came to live with us. He was a good boy and kept his family safe for seven years. I thought of this poem when we said goodbye.

hello

Hello at last everybody! I have finally gotten around to posting. It has been a stressful few months for me and my family, but things are looking up at last and spring is finally on its way!