Kiwa Creek

Sunday, November 20, 2011

November 20th

- 1.5C, High o/c or haze.
Frosty out there this am, with our coastal humidity everything gets quite white.

Congratulations to Son Steve this morning on his re-election as a town councillor.

We had a belated Canadian Thanksgiving dinner/ early US Thanksgiving dinner last night. I ate too much!
I see Bruce the hummer out there, I hope his syrup hasn't frozen up. After a few seconds he's still at it so guess it's ok.
I posted a picture on here the other day which featured the bird tree. This is a small hawthorne which I keep trimmed. In the summer on any given day there could be up to 50, maybe more birds inside the leaf cover. Now that the leaves are gone the tight branch effect still provides protection and the birds still abound. At this moment there are approximately 15 of them. Hard to count as they don't sit still!

Today will finish of those few things that I have been putting on of my Dad's.
The last thing - a poem, I have produced before. It will not translate well as it is written in the vernacular of the deep American south of a century ago. I believe it was probably written before 1930. Difficult to understand or not, there is a message. I found the original in my mother's papers after she died. It was sort of her creed.

Some of what I said in the paragraph above is repeated in my first introduction that of several years ago.

The Seventh. 

Several years ago on a visit to northern California we brought a redwood burl home with us.  We placed it in a bowl of water as instructed, gradually fronds of redwood foliage grew from the burl making it a nice house plant.  As these trees are reputed to be the largest living things in the world, we reasoned that soon there would not be room in the house for us.  We planted it in a secluded spot in our back yard. At the moment we have a representative of the biggest living thing in the world growing in our back yard ….. , it is all of two feet high.


All my years as a child my mother would often say, “ Just be yourself, do what you can do and don’t try and pretend you are someone else”.
I never knew where she drew on this small piece of wisdom, but when I went through the papers she had saved I found this last worn, creased and faded scrap of paper.  On it was a poem that my Dad had written.  I don’t know whether it preceded Mom’s advice or if her words gave rise to the inspiration to write it. 
John Little (Jr.)


The Eighth and Last.


DON’T BE WHAT YOU AIN’T

De sunflower ain’t de daisy and de melon ain’t de rose
Why is they all so crazy to be sumfin else dat grows?
Jes stick to de place you’re planted and do de bess you knows.
Be de sunflower or de daisy, de melon or de rose.

Don’t be what ain’t, jess yo be what yo is.
If you am not what you are den you is not what you is
If you’re just a little tadpole don’t you try to be a frog.
If you are de tail don’t try to wag de dog.
Do a kindness if you can’t exhort and preach.

If you’re just a little pebble don’t you try to be the beach
When a man is what he isn’t den he isn’t what he is
And as sure as I’m a talking he’s gwine to get his
De song thrush ain’t de robin, de cat bird ain’t de jay
Why is dey all a throbbin to out do each other’s day?
Jus sing the song God gave you and let your heart be gay
Be de song thrush or de robin de cat bird or de jay.

John Little (Sr. )

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