WEDNESDAY
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A Thought for Today
Seek out truth until all avenues have been exhausted.
This
One Does It For Me!
Dear Ken,
One of my most cherished possessions is A Book of Days and a Month of
Sundays.
I know it's pretty difficult getting hold of a copy so perhaps you could
publish something from this wonderful volume in your column one Wednesday.
Love,
Sheila
Nice choice, Sheila. It's been
awhile since we featured something from these books so after the
introduction, here's a bunch of stuff for you from the November section.
To the Authors from the Author
( Assuming many of you will write in this book along with me. )
Man has his seasons. His own times. And while nature makes the colors
change, the moons, the tides, man is more accountable for change than he
might know.
A Book of Days can be a diary, a collection of ideas, a series of dates to
be remembered, a means of putting order into otherwise orderless life, a
storehouse of maxims ( as well as ‘minimums’ ), a secret place to treasure
private thoughts, or a book to help rekindle the hearts or mind’s memory.
I have chosen to make my first Book of Days all of the above. Instead of
starting with January and following the calendar year - I don’t know
anyone who successfully keeps a diary that way - I began this book with my
favorite season, autumn, and worked from there through winter, spring, and
summer.
You will find no particular year set out in this book, because the
memories go back as far as my capacity to remember, the years covered are
many. Besides, if you plan to write in this book too, it’s unfair to tell
you where to begin or where to leave off.
There is space set out for every day of every month, but if you want to
remember whether the third of April of some year fell on a Thursday or a
Friday, you’ll have to remember to write in for yourself.
For me, the best part of this book is the Month of Sundays near the end.
Sunday is always a good day for me. For one thing, the telephone doesn’t
ring. Parts of the day can be given over to God and to leisure ( sleeping
late, reading the paper, playing with the animals ).
Like everybody else, I have opinions on just about everything. Sometimes I
keep them to myself; more often they wind up in my books, letters,
interviews, and conversations. They change even while they are escaping.
Collected here are opinions, a little philosophy, some truths I’ve
learned, paragraphs that might be thought by some to be overly intimate,
and ideas I felt like sharing. And there is plenty of room for your own
ideas, memories, dates to remember, diary entries, and, right next to my
thoughts, your arguments for or against.
Have fun. I did.
R.M.
Cats
Cats have the best of it
I suppose they always have.
Curled up in autumn
back behind the stove,
swaggering through shrubbery
in the summer months
pirates seeking treasure
be it hapless mouse or moth.
When ready for some human contact
( usually as mealtime draws near )
they’re friendlier to us than foxes
or the possum
but they do not extend lap dog submission.
A cuddle and a scratch behind the ear
is quite enough
Cats, I reckon, have it all
admiration and an endless sleep
and company only when they want it.
- from "I Never Met a Cat I Didn’t Like," 1982
I'm not sure if these books
are still in stock but now that Stanyan House is up and running it's worth
stopping by there to check. You can get there by visiting
www.stanyanhouse.com
The address for your favorite
McKuen songs, poems or memories is, as always,
kenb@mckuen.com and I look forward to
hearing from you soon.
- Ken, Johannesburg,
South Africa, November 19
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