Spring has sprung! Humans are cleanin’ their homes. Squirrels are diggin’ up dirt in da yard. And bees are so bizzy they don’t miss a tree. Yup! Everyone’s jazzed up ‘cause ol’ man winter is taking a snooooze and it’s feeling so good to laff. To add easy-does-it good cheer to your springtime, I invite you to enjoy these funny videos and one — just one — truly delightful (and not too highbrow) poem. So have fun with these spring things to do ’cause, hey, it’s gonna get real hot real soon.
#1: Enjoy Funny Babies
Okay, okay. Don’t hoch my chinick (pronounced “hock my chine-ick”). I know babies are inherently funny. After all, they have oversized heads, no necks, and very little cash flow. That bein’ said, sometimes you just gotta stop and smell the diapers. Why? Because the real reason babies are funny is they are totally without self-consciousness, judgment, and dignity. My type of people…So, at the top of this list of spring things to do, I give you BABIES!
#2: Listen to Inspiring Spring Music
Lenny Bernstein is my favorite symphonic conductor. Bugs Bunny is my second favorite. I was introduced to Mr. Bunny and his extraordinary baton skills in grad school at NYU, where, while studying the Victorian novel, I was taken to a classical music concert in NYC. Lenny had called in with a sniffle and, after a brief carrot-based negotiation, Mr. Bunny hopped in. This experience changed my life as, subsequently and afterwards, I’ve never looked at symphonies or bunnies the same way. And, if you thirst for more musical springiness, just click on this lick!
#3: Talk With Birds
These days everyone is all hopped up about dogs. And when you ask why everyone just loves, loves, loves ‘em, you hear stuff like, “Dogs love people more than themselves.” “They are unselfish, heroic, and trainable.” “Dogs are unafraid to say, ‘I love you’.” “Dogs are up for anything and they don’t mind looking like idiots.” And when you ask why they don’t like cats, they say stuff like, “Cats disdain people.” Cats think they are monarchs of the realm. Like Charles and you-know-who.” “Cats just want to sit on their human’s diaphragm and jump and down as forcefully as possible.”
Which now brings me to birds. Specifically, birds that communicate with words, gestures, and emotions. So if I were you, and I am, I’d adopt a talking bird, get a one-bedroom condo somewhere nice, never leave the house, and talk to your bird. But that’s just me. And, now, here’s the video that will change your life.
#4: Get Cultured
Now it’s time to elevate our minds with poetry. I know, I know, nobody reads it anymore. And now that we have CHAT GPT, no human’s gonna write it either. We’ll just leave poetry to the bots and get on with our lives. But!!! For those who cling desperately to the culture of yesteryear, when people read books, odes, sonnets, and newspapers, here is a poem I love. It’s very well written and, if you read it, you will get cultured. Just like a microbe in a Petrie dish, but better ‘cause you’re bigger.
Among the two poems I researched for this post, I selected Today by Billy Collins, twice America’s poet laureate. Today appears in his book, Aimless Love: New and Selected Poems. In turn playful, ironic and serious, Collins’s poetry uncovers the wonder in the everyday, addressing themes of love, loss, joy, and poetry itself. (I did not write this last sentence.)
Today
If ever there were a spring day so perfect,
so uplifted by a warm intermittent breeze
that it made you want to throw
open all the windows in the house
and unlatch the door to the canary’s cage,
indeed, rip the little door from its jamb,
a day when the cool brick paths
and the garden bursting with peonies
seemed so etched in sunlight
that you felt like taking
a hammer to the glass paperweight
on the living room end table,
releasing the inhabitants
from their snow-covered cottage
so they could walk out,
holding hands and squinting
into this larger dome of blue and white,
well, today is just that kind of day.
Featured photo of birds by Steve Weir from Pexels. Thank you!
A well-curated collection of things that don’t matter at a time when we are geared to think that everything matters. Thanks for breaking the spell of the daily news cycle.
Meaningless fun! Nothing beats it when times get tough. Thanks for reading!