Friday, May 15, 2009

I love you. I'm glad I exist.


The Orange


At lunchtime I bought a huge orange
The size of it made us all laugh.
I peeled it and shared it with Robert and Dave—
They got quarters and I had a half.

And that orange it made me so happy,
As ordinary things often do
Just lately. The shopping. A walk in the park
This is peace and contentment. It’s new.

The rest of the day was quite easy.
I did all my jobs on my list
And enjoyed them and had some time over.
I love you. I’m glad I exist.


Wendy Cope



Don't you relish the times when you feel peace and contentment in
the simplicity of eating an orange or feeling the breeze in your hair?
Isn't that what life is composed of, anyway, hundreds and hundreds
of simple things? Bask in those lovely simple things this weekend,
dear bloggy friends. Seize that day! ~x~
.
(Okay, I know, that's a clementine in the picture. I didn't have any oranges.)

75 comments:

  1. A gem of a poem, Willow! And I agree - the simple pleasures, like a lovely spring day, are the very best.

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  2. wow! amazing post today willow. embracing the simple things seems so hard at times in the midst of the more complex we are facing. thank you for the gentle reminder and wonderful poem. hope you have a great weekend!

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  3. Absolutely.
    Great new banner, by the way.

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  4. I too have had an awakening to the joys of the simple pleasures. I have had a lot of extra time due to a layoff in April and have come about to notice little things I had always enjoyed but was too busy for! I enjoyed this post!

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  5. A lesson we should all live by Willow. Thanks for reminding us!

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  6. Hi, Willow. You have unerring taste in poetry. Thanks for sharing this today. It's a great start to the day and the weekend. I'm looking forward to many simple pleasures and hope your day is filled with the same.

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  7. Hello Willow,

    Lovely to read this - such ordinary everday things, beautifully expressed. I wouldn't have known it was a clementine if you hadn't said! Enjoy your weekend.

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  8. The simple things make the very best of days! Wishing you a simple weekend ...

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  9. Going home for the weekend myself, away from the machines and work. I'll sit by the open window watching the birds at the birdbath and enjoying the gentle breeze.

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  10. Lovely poem;lovely picture. Happy weekend, Willow. (Exit, humming "'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free . . ."

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  11. ok--now i will really try to have one of those weekends and in it oneof those moments..thanks for this...(and i love the clementine)

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  12. nicely said, and lovely poem.

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  13. Trust Ms Cope...the 'simple things' in life are often the most complex - and trust WC to write tis in verse.

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  14. lovely post. i live by carpe diem every second really...the poem is touching...thanks for reminding us....

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  15. Great the way you composed the picture...looks like a big navel orange to me!
    Contentment is a beautiful thing!

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  16. true, so true.
    thanks for the reminder.

    xx

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  17. It is a lovely poem Willow and the sentiments are perfect but what made me laugh was your last line in brackets. I don't know why but I found that so funny and cute.) xv

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  18. I love Wendy Cope's poems - she is one of the few modern poets I can read without wincing. I lived in Winchester, Hampshire for a few years and she was the local poet - a friendly, unassuming lady

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  19. Thank you, Willow. I needed to be reminded of the joy of simple things. I'll follow your advice this weekend!

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  20. Lovely sentiment. And very true. Clementines are orange, anyway. ;) Have a great weekend, Willow!

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  21. Orange you glad?

    Why yes, yes I am.

    Sorry. I couldn't resist. Have a great weekend too... it's a long one for us Canucks! Woot!

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  22. We'll forgive the picture. It does the job. Ah for the simple things. They are the best!

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  23. Wishing you a lovely weekend as well, Willow! And I like clementines even better!

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  24. Great words here Willow!You're so right about the meaning and oranges are great!

    Have a lovely day :)

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  25. Oh, what a beautiful and uplifting poem for a Friday night!

    And forget for a second the whole is-it-a-clementine-or-an-orange malarkey. Why on earth have, my lovely buddies in the English-speaking world, have so many words for tangerines? Over here in Blighty, you have mandarins, tangerines, satsumas and clementines. On top of that, oranges don't look like oranges, they look like tangerines. Confused? Yes, I always am, whenever I go to the supermarket :-).

    Many thanks for such a fantastic post. It's got a spring (isn't that the season?) in its step and a song in its heart.

    Greetings from London.

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  26. Oh, And I forgot to comment on the banner. Claaaaaaaaaasssssss! :-)

    Greetings from London.

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  27. Simple is always the best! The poem is awesome!
    ~ Carol ~

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  28. The simple things and moments are so very precious! Peace and contentment - yes!

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  29. Lovely thoughts-- & a lovely clementine!

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  30. Willow -
    carpe diem indeed

    life is in the little things...

    Happy days

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  31. Most would not have noticed the fact that it was a clementine.
    But all, including me, will love this post.
    Love you, Willow!

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  32. That banner is absolutely fabulous.

    I agree on the power of the little things!

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  33. Don't know Wendy Cope; will have to look her up. Great poem. Lovely, simple things to you, too.

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  34. What a great commentary -- and of course you found a poem to go with it... nto to mention your own photo. Thanks for the reminder. You are indeed right.

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  35. Here,here we make things so complicated and sometimes we just need to be and see the beauty in little things....the poem made me smile :)

    Kay

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  36. this is so simple and fresh! I've been enjoying catching up on past posts.. loved the "mummy meme", especially point number 5! hope you have having a lovely weekend!

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  37. Oh I love your blog!

    Will be back...

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  38. Beautiful sentiment - you know I believe that what I call "cheap thrills" are the secret to a happy life.

    Simple pleasures to you, too, Willow!

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  39. Love Wendy Cope - she is the John Betjeman of today. Now wouldn't she have made a perfect Poet Laureate?

    Yes, simple pleasures are, by far. the most pleasurable of all pleasures.

    Lovely post, once again. Thank you, Willow.

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  40. I'm basking in the simplicities...the story of my life...
    Have a great SUNNY(I hope)weekend!

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  41. YES YES!
    I think this is what blogging is best for
    celebrating and sharing the small delights of life.
    See Weaver of Grass's post today--she is going to organize her poetry book shelf!
    Bliss.
    Happy weekend.

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  42. Very nice poem! And I thought that was a tangerine in the pic. Can't tell the two apart, most times...oh well...happy week-end Willow!

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  43. I love the smell of orange on my hands and in my fingernails too.

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  44. My dear Willow, I bask in then all the time!

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  45. Lovely post - going all zen on us are you?

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  46. It's a great poem.

    One day last year I was enjoying an orange, and I painted a piece titled: "A Day In The Life Of An Orange"
    It was somewhat like your picture, but abstracted,,,simple, and felt good.
    Contentment often comes in very small things.

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  47. This weekend is for relaxing...simple things - a good movie, a nice past, bottle of wine...and who knows?

    Kat

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  48. wow! I love your new header! Amazing post!

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  49. I enjoyed the post. Speaking of oranges, we usually have them each week with our lunch meals. Patty got tired of peeling them so she simply slices them like you might slice a loaf of bread. And she cuts the slices in half. We each take an equal number of these sliced halves.

    She bends the peel backwards and that breaks the orange loose from the peeling.

    I just fit the whole sliced half in my mouth and bite down. The peeling comes out perfectly and I get the orange.

    Really a neat way to eat an orange.

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  50. Wonderful poem. Thanks for sharing & reminding us all to relish the simple.

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  51. Finding the joy in the everyday keeps you from seeking happiness. You already have it. :)

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  52. Oh yes! I always try to stay in the moment and relish the small things. Doesn't always work - but I keep trying. Thanks for the reminder.

    Loved the poem.

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  53. I love the poem and thank you for the sweet thought dear Willow!

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  54. graceisinmykitchen.blogspot.comSat May 16, 11:10:00 PM

    Hello Willow,I agree seize the moment...The pictures you use bring me pleasure, weather they be yours or anothers.I enjoy your blog.

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  55. Agree entirely. We had a lovely weekend away, caught up with family, had some laughs, took lots of photos and we left, smiling and happy.

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  56. yes, i do adore those days and am grateful that they come easily for me. a walk outside is all it takes to get me over a hump and breathing in a new outlook on life.

    that poem is sweet and made me smile. hope to see more poems by willow soon as well.

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  57. Yes, it's the simple things I love the most. My favourite times are when I get to potter about the home, all the more precious because I seem to be so busy away from it.I enjoyed this post.

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  58. A very apeeling post & thought!

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  59. Your pretend orange looks good enough to eat. Looking at it is reminding me of the "zest" from the orange used to flavour foods and teas and the words from the poem about love and happiness are reminders of our "zest" for life. Barry suggested I look up your page. I love it. Thanks for sharing.

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  60. Great message. My mouth is watering!

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  61. I was thinking that was a clementine. See, if you took your camera everywhere with you, you could have taken a photo of that big orange and we could have laughed along with you.

    Your commentary gave us a good idea, though, and I could taste the juiciness. And of course, I now want an orange, and not one in the house.

    Great poem. Indeed, the best things in life are in the simple things.

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  62. Yes, I agree with you. I just had baked pears (the butter and sugar caremalised wonderfully as I forgot them in the oven) this evening for supper and enjoyed this simple dish thoroughly!

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  63. I once hosted a poetry evening with Wendy Cope as guest. She was a riot. In the pub afterwards she admitted to being a devoted X-Factor viewer (UK version of American Idol) and to voting conscientiously throughout. Definitely - and happily - in touch with the simple things.

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  64. Dick, you lucky duck! I love Ms. Cope's poetry. I guessed she would be a very down to earth kind of person.

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  65. I really love and agree with the orange post, Willow. We had one of those moments the other day watching my daughter splash in the pubbles carrying her bright red ladbybug umbrella on her way to preschool. Around us was the grittiest urban scene you could imagine but her joy and pleasure in the simple act of puddle splashing made all the traffic, the factories and graffiti seem like magic. It's so important to see the beauty and joy in the everyday.

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  66. I love this picture! Those are some of the sweetest moments. When we feel happy for the most random reasons. Just the scent of an orange is reason enough! ; )

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  67. For me, it's strawberries. Every time I bite into a sweet strawberry, my mind drifts! :)

    Have a great day, friend!

    Sarah

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  68. Willow, I was reading Justine Picardie's blog and someone offered up this poem to her in sympathy. She cited you and your blog! You really are world-wide . . . and I was so glad to see it, because I had missed it here.

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  69. Just what I needed to brighten my day!

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Inject a few raisins of conversation into the tasteless dough of existence.
― O. Henry (and me)