A Heap O' Livin'

By: Guest blogger, Terry Staley

As I sit here contemplating what to write about I think, “Do I want to be witty and funny or do I want to be the intellectual thinker and write something profound and thought provoking?  I must do something really good to follow up on the previous blogs; they've all been so wonderful. I have age and experience on my side…surely I can come up with something great.”

And so I continue to think, but I also pick up a book of poems by Edger A. Guest that I found at a flea market. As I read, I find that he had captured a few things in prose that I feel in my heart, so I will share them with you. The first is a verse from the poem “House.”

House

It takes a heap o' livin' in a house t' make it home,

A heap o' sun and shadder, an' ye somethimes have t' roam

Afore ye really 'preciate the things ye left behind,

An hunger fer 'em somehow, with 'em allus on yer mind.

It don't make any differunce how rich ye get t' be,

How much yer chairs an' tables cost, how great yer luxury;
It ain't a home t' ye, though it be a palace of a king,

Until somehow yer soul is sort o' wrapped around everything.

I must say that I totally agree with Mr. Guest on that one. The second poem is called “The Gentle Gardner” and it truly speaks to me.

The Gentle Gardner

I'd like to leave but daffodills to mark my little way,

To leave but tulips red and white behind me as I stray;

I'd like to pass away from earth and feel I'd left behind

But roses and forget-me-nots for all who come to find.

I'd like to sow the barren spots with all the flowers of the earth,

And to leave a path where those who come should find but gentle mirth;
And when at last I'm called upon to join the havenly throng
I'd like to feel along the way I'd left no sign of wrong.

And yet the cares are many and the hours of toil are few;

There is not time on earth for all I'd like to do;
But, having lived and having toiled, I'd like the world to find
Some little touch of beauty that my soul had left behind.
***

What I'd like for you to take from this blog are a few things I have learned from age and experience:

1. No matter where you go, there's no place like home.

 2. You only have one life so don't waste it on trying to have the most "stuff;" get out and live it. Plant a garden, get your toes dirty and have fun.

3. Family is Love!

Last but not least, the thing that Tom lived the most:

4. Things don't get any better than "big food" and friends and family.

So there it is, for what it's worth, my advice for a heap o' livin'....Live, Love, Laugh and be true to yourself.

Terry Staley