Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Gather Ye Rosebuds While Ye May....

I obviously woke up "brain dead" this morning because I didn't have an idea for a post. So I went back to my "word of the day" site to try and trigger a synapse or two in that lobe of the brain assigned to writing and other verbal creativity. The word for April 28 on Word of the Day was "temporal." Today's was "nebulous." I decided not to use the latter because I was already in a bit of a fog and I thought that I might get foggier writing about it. I know I would be writing from experience, but who wants to wade through three or four sludgy paragraphs? Yesterday's word was "exacerbate" and although I was in a bit of a fog, it was a kindly one and I wasn't going to get all riled up about it.

Dwarf Red Tulips

No, I decided to choose "temporal" partly because I hoped that this vagueness would pass quickly, but also because it reminded me of another favourite word "ephemeral" - lasting only a day. It's finally Spring up here in the north, which means that the flowers come out quickly and fade just as quickly. It is often said that Canada has two seasons - Winter and Summer. Spring is just a fleeting fantasy. When the temperature can go from 0C to 24C in 24 hours, those precious first flowers, that need cooler days, shrivel in the heat.

Chinoxia

I know this and so I was out in my garden on the weekend trying to capture those fleeting moments on camera, to hold them just a little longer.

Forsythia

The title? It's from a poem by Robert Herrick - 1591-1674 entitled "To The Virgins To Make The Most Of Time"

GATHER ye rosebuds while ye may,
  Old Time is still a-flying:
And this same flower that smiles to-day
  To-morrow will be dying.



Just as an aside, back then Herrick would have been an old man at 83, maybe a wise old man, however, I think that he should have chosen a better title for the poem :) All thoughts welcome!

Enjoy the day - tempus fugit - time flies!!

1 comment:

  1. Thankfully, you came up with something- or my visit would have been evanescent...

    ReplyDelete