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Year Three, Day 219: "Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind"

Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind

"Blow, blow, thou winter wind 
Thou art not so unkind 
As man's ingratitude; 
Thy tooth is not so keen, 
Because thou art not seen, 
Although thy breath be rude. 

Heigh-ho! sing, heigh-ho! unto the green holly: 
Most friendship is feigning, most loving mere folly: 
Then heigh-ho, the holly! 
This life is most jolly. 

Freeze, freeze thou bitter sky, 
That does not bite so nigh 
As benefits forgot: 
Though thou the waters warp, 
Thy sting is not so sharp 
As a friend remembered not. 
Heigh-ho! sing, heigh-ho! unto the green holly: 
Most friendship is feigning, most loving mere folly: 
Then heigh-ho, the holly! 
This life is most jolly."
.
Taken from Act II, Scene 7 in As You Like It by William Shakespeare 

My daughter and I discovered by accident how to make Baby Gracie laugh out loud.  I got out a book of poetry to read to Grace the other night.  I sat down in one of the chairs and asked my daughter which one I should read to her. 

My daughter told me to read something from the "December chapter". This book has poems for each month of the year.  My daughter checked it out from the library.  

I started to turn to the back of the book to find the December poems. My daughter was holding Gracie while I found a poem.  As I turned the pages, I noticed a breeze.

"It's kind of drafty in here", I told my daughter.

"Mom, it's 72 degrees. It's fine", said she. They heat their trailer with propane, which gets expensive.

"Well", said I in quite a snarky tone. "Perhaps I'll read this one: 'Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind!"

Suddenly there was the loudest burst of laughter from my granddaughter. We all looked at each other in surprise and then burst out laughing.  The harder we laughed, the harder she laughed.  It was a good moment.

So today, I video taped me reading "Blow, Blow Thou Winter Wind" to Gracie.  I couldn't get her to laugh again, but she seems quite interested! My three month old laughs at Shakespeare - what a great kid!

I am going to leave you with this video and my hooping video. I am quite exhausted. I spent the night at my daughter's house. I had a coughing spell that lasted almost an hour about 3:00 a.m. Then I watched Gracie while my daughter went to work.  

I also was glued to the news about the derailed Amtrak train near Tacoma.

I find it quite ironic that yesterday's blog glorified public transportation, in particular the Max train.  I had never even considered a mechanical failure on the Max.  I did think twice on the way back to Portland today. 

I also thought about my days commuting to Portland from Salem on the Amtrak train. I always felt very safe.  I have a sneaking suspicion foul play was involved in the derailment this morning. Perhaps something placed on the tracks.

It will be interesting to hear what they discover.  I am praying for the victims.  

But now, I am heading to bed. Tomorrow I have an appointment with my nurse practitioner.  Perhaps we will have an answer to my persistent cough and discover the cause of the train derailment tomorrow.

It is always good to know the cause, right?

Talk to you tomorrow!

Love,

Zita :) 


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