Robert Anton Wilson

"The longer one is alone, the easier it is to hear the song of the earth." - Robert Anton Wilson

William Wordsworth

"Come forth into the light of things, let nature be your teacher." - William Wordsworth

William Allingham

"Now Autumn's fire burns slowly along the woods and day by day the dead leaves fall and melt." - William Allingham

Victor Hugo

"What would be ugly in a garden constitutes beauty in a mountain." - Victor Hugo

Socrates

"He is richest who is content with the least, for content is the wealth of nature." - Socrates

Saint Teresa of Avila

"The tree that is beside the running water is fresher and gives more fruit." - Saint Teresa of Avila

Norman Douglas

"The pine stays green in winter... wisdom in hardship." - Norman Douglas

Marilyn French

"Nature is inside art as its content, not outside as its model." - Marilyn French

George Washington Carver

"Nothing is more beautiful than the loveliness of the woods before sunrise." - George Washington Carver

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

"Nature never deceives us; it is we who deceive ourselves." - Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Helen Keller

"Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see a shadow." - Helen Keller

Helen Hunt Jackson

"I know the lands are lit, with all the autumn blaze of Goldenrod." - Helen Hunt Jackson

Elizabeth Bowen

"Autumn arrives in early morning, but spring at the close of a winter day." - Elizabeth Bowen

Edna Ferber

"Big doesn't necessarily mean better. Sunflowers aren't better than violets." - Edna Ferber

Carl Sagan

"The universe seems neither benign nor hostile, merely indifferent." - Carl Sagan

Bette Davis

"Oh, don't let's ask for the moon. We've already got the stars." - Bette Davis

Jim - In Loving Memory

Our family suffered the saddest event we've had to date, the loss of Abe's dad.

Jim, aka Popo, passed away on the 24th September. He had been admitted to hospital for what was thought to be bacterial meningitis, and went on to have various other complications, including pneumonia and myopathy.

[flickr set=72157647217853839 photo=6 shift=9]

He was in hospital for several weeks. He would be getting better one day, then worse, then better again. It was an extremely emotional and difficult time for the whole family.

At the end, he was moved to a hospice room and the family was with him until he fell asleep. The moment he passed it started to POUR with rain, with some of the longest and loudest thunder claps I have ever heard. When Leo was told what had happened, his first comment was "Did it happen when it started to rain?".

Family and friends gathered at Vickie's house in the days that followed. The loss is felt deeply by everyone, and we were really glad we could be with Vickie for a while afterwards.

Popo adored, truly adored, all his grandkids, and his greatest joy was making them laugh and happy. I am grateful for all the memories they have of him, but wish with all my heart there could be more.

You'll be missed, Jim.

Jim - In Loving Memory

A. R. Ammons

"In nature there are few sharp lines." - A. R. Ammons

Alfred Austin

"Show me your garden and I shall tell you what you are." - Alfred Austin

C. S. Lewis

"Miracles do not, in fact, break the laws of nature." - C. S. Lewis

E. F. Schumacher

"Eagles come in all shapes and sizes, but you will recognize them chiefly by their attitudes." - E. F. Schumacher

Henry David Thoreau

"The bluebird carries the sky on his back." - Henry David Thoreau

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

"Nature knows no pause in progress and development, and attaches her curse on all inaction." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Marcus Tullius Cicero

"If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need." - Marcus Tullius Cicero

Maya Angelou

"A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song." - Maya Angelou

R. Buckminster Fuller

"There is nothing in a caterpillar that tells you it's going to be a butterfly." - R. Buckminster Fuller

Samuel Johnson

"No man can taste the fruits of autumn while he is delighting his scent with the flowers of spring." - Samuel Johnson

Theodore Roethke

"Over every mountain there is a path, although it may not be seen from the valley." - Theodore Roethke

William Hazlitt

"We do not see nature with our eyes, but with our understandings and our hearts." - William Hazlitt