There is something in the autumn that is native to my blood—

A Vagabond Song

There is something in the autumn that is native to my blood—   
Touch of manner, hint of mood;   
And my heart is like a rhyme,   
With the yellow and the purple and the crimson keeping time.   
 
The scarlet of the maples can shake me like a cry            
Of bugles going by.   
And my lonely spirit thrills   
To see the frosty asters like a smoke upon the hills.   
 
There is something in October sets the gypsy blood astir;   
We must rise and follow her,     
When from every hill of flame   
She calls and calls each vagabond by name.

Bliss Carman 1861-1929

Some people say that electronic communication has led to a decline in writing, particularly letter writing. The bread and butter letter, they say, is completely extinct. Au contraire. We had a pleasant Sunday luncheon at our home with a young and electronically well-connected friend. She had thanked us on Facebook by 3:20.

Good on Ya!

I'm don't know if I'm the only one who does this, but sometimes when I leave a comment on a blog, once I get going, I have so much fun, it grows into a post of its own. So I put it on my blog. I just left such a comment on Joy and Gladness:

Just wanted to stop by and say that I do read your blog, but I usually don't show up on your site meter because I read it through Google Reader. I just caught up on the last ten posts, which I enjoyed. I am now only 538 posts behind on the bogs I read.

To all that happened in the past couple of weeks, I say, "Good on ya!" (I think that means, "You done good, Congratulations, Good job, Hooray!, Thanks be to God, Good luck, Good show!, Hallelujah!, Whew!, Wow!, Mazel Tov!, Amen, Salud(a), A votre sante, Bless your heart, Skoal!, here's lookin' at you, here's mud in your eye, Score!, Go---al!, Swish! it may be, it could be, it's outta here!, take a bow, take a victory lap, take a load off, this Bud's for you, Gesundheit!, Praise the Lord, the Lord be with you, You Rock!," and, "You deserve a break today," but all in a "Boy, am I tired, and I'll bet you are, too!" kind of way. In certain contexts, I think it can also mean, "You may kiss the bride." Shalom and aloha have got nothing on "Good on ya!" But I could be wrong.) Hmm, that was so much fun, I think I'll steal it for my blog.

P.S. I *don't* have high-speed internet, so have fun with all the gadgets, but please don't let them keep the page from loading for those of us who can't use them anyway.

Disillusioned

I've been a fan of a blog called Outer Life for several months now. He doesn't post often, but when he does, he always has something thought-provoking to say. Just what I wish more blogs were like when I'm 546 posts behind on the blogs I read. Like his recent post about how people use the word "disillusioned".

I've always thought of it this way. The only reason the word is used the other way is so people can feel virtuous about their cynicism. The problem is, they aren't cynical enough. A virtuous cynic would be cynical about his cynicism.