Almost Done

Today, I took care of the rest of the boxes of canned goods. I still have a box of knick knacks to put on the shelf above my table, but that was a little more than I wanted to do today since I think I’ll have to take the table down and stand on a step to reach it.

I spent a couple of hours this afternoon starting to look through some of my writing. I started with the poems and got through five or six. Following is one of the best ones (I think) that I came across yet:

A Special Symbol

Each year there is a special day when lovers celebrate

The love that is between them that is never out of date.

The symbol of this special day-a heart as red as fire,

Has been the object of great art, has many words inspired.

We start right out when we are young by sending Valentine’s,

Little cards that say such things as “Valentine, be mine.”

Candy hearts are passed around in assorted size and flavors,

And heart-shaped boxes filled with candy that everybody savors.

The heart became a symbol marking out that special day,

So much that we now use it in so many other ways-

It’s used on bumper stickers and on billboards every day,

A substitute for “love,” yes, it’s another way to say:

“I love New York, and Mel’s hot dogs, and fishing from the pier.

I love the Yankees baseball team and frosty Barq’s root beer.”

But there’s another symbol we could use to mark this day-

It’s says the same thing as the heart, but it points us to the Way.

The way that God loves each of us, the sacrifice He made

To reconcile us to Himself, but what a price He paid.

It cost our Lord His own dear Son, Who died upon the cross,

That cross, a symbol of His love to all those who are lost.

Perhaps the cross would be a better symbol of true love,

When sending cards to Valentine’s, to those we dearly love.

A symbol of His sacrifice and of God’s love for us,

A symbol that, in every way, shows that He died for us.

It shows what loving really is-that Christ gave up His life

For those who were not worthy of the slightest sacrifice.

He put our needs before His own as we should also do

For those we love and care for, to show our love is true.

The cross and heart both stand for love, although the cross says more

About what loving really is, about what love is for,

So when you send a Valentine to someone that you love,

Perhaps a cross and not a heart would better show your love.

It’s kind of hard to display this properly -I probably don’t know enough about how to format the text. I wrote this poem for Valentine’s Day in 1997, but I think its message is still valid.

Dickie’s been gone all day. Actually, I think he left yesterday – he likes to go to Bingo in St. Pete on Wednesdays.I tried to call his cell, but didn’t get an answer. Of course, that’s not unusual.

We had a hard rain in the night. Our pond, which was completely empty yesterday, now has at least 2-3 feet of water in it. Amazing! When I went down there last week one day, there was a Roseate Spoonbill in with all of the other water birds feeding there.

Well, I guess I’ll sign off now.

Until next time…