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Julia Strimer's avatar

What a gift Linny was and still is--I hope you have many chances to share stories of Linny with your granddaughter. My friend who died at 100 two years ago left behind 10 small books of memories for his family. With your writing skills, there may be a "Linny" book ahead--but for now, so good to read your delight in the birds of your new home.

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TED LEVIN's avatar

Yes, Izzy eats like her grandfather and laughs like her grandmother, both irrepressibly.

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Julia Strimer's avatar

"Irrepressibly"--what a perfect word for the utter abandonment to delight in a child! I love this poem, and wish I could share the picture I put with it, of a young girl pressing her face into a sunflower :-)

A Prayer

Toyohiko Kagawa

I want to be ever a child

I want to feel an eternal friendship

for the raindrops, the flowers,

the insects, the snowflakes.

I want to be keenly interested in everything,

with mind and muscle ever alert,

forgetting my troubles in the next moment.

The stars and the sea, the ponds and the trees,

the birds and the animals are my comrades.

Though my muscles may stiffen, though my skin may

wrinkle, may I never find myself yawning

at life.

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Dave Anderson's avatar

Ted - looking to private message you to get your email address. Have a John Hay related gig invitation to you in NH next summer at Newbury; Lake Sunapee. Please email Dave Anderson @ danderson@forestsociety.org - Thank you. The address I had for you was an @valleynet email that bounced back

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