Sunday, July 15, 2012

The Monument of Truth

"Time"
J.R.R. Tolkein
“I sit beside the fire and think 
Of all that I have seen
Of meadow flowers and butterflies
In summers that have been

Of yellow leaves and gossamer
In autumns that there were
With morning mist and silver sun
And wind upon my hair

I sit beside the fire and think
Of how the world will be
When winter comes without a spring 
That I shall ever see

For still there are so many things
That I have never seen
In every wood in every spring
There is a different green

I sit beside the fire and think
Of people long ago
And people that will see a world
That I shall never know

But all the while I sit and think
Of times there were before
I listen for returning feet 
And voices at the door”  


TODAY'S SEEDS OF WISDOM


  • JUST BLOOMED TODAY 
  • THE ADVENTURES OF TEXTFROMDOG
  • TWEET TREATS
  • DID YOU KNOW...?
  • GARDEN UPDATE
  • VIRTUAL ROAD TRIP~JARDIN DU LUXEMBOURG PART 3
  • THE MONUMENT OF TRUTH
  • FAUNA
  • GARDEN GIGGLE
  • WHAT IN THE WORLD? OVER THE FENCE
  • FEEDBACK
JUST BLOOMED TODAY 
Geranium

Marigolds


THE ADVENTURES OF TEXTFROMDOG
Bringing you the online adventures of textfromdog by October Jones. You can find him on Facebook. He has discovered that his dog, "Dog", a bulldog, can text him. Each day we will share his texts with you. October's remarks are in green on the right side of the screen, Dog's are on the left.


TWEET TREATS
bringing you the quirky, funniest and most interesting tweets from Twitter that we came across.  
Trying to explain to my pet beaver the concept of nicknames, human anatomy and anthropomorphism. None of it is going well :(    @trumpetcake

DID YOU KNOW...?
Tulip bulbs were more valuable than gold in Holland in the 1600's.

GARDEN UPDATE
 A little cooler today but still getting flash flood warnings every hour. Large lightening is lighting up the night sky in shades of gold.


Went to work on my roses, deadheading and cleaning up before the systematic applications.
VIRTUAL ROAD TRIP JARDIN DU LUXEMBOURG PART 3
Today we are concluding our virtual road trip to France with some pictures of the existing statues and finishing with a stunning photo, where, when you click on the top, will take you to the top of the Eiffel Tower and allow you to see a panoramic view.
the Montparnasse Tower   Marius de Victor Vilain

Dancing Satyr of Lequesne

Lion of Nubia Augustus Cain

The Play of Andrew Allar

Students Resistant to Watkins

Paul Eluard Bone sip Zadkine

Face Flush
This concludes our virtual road trip to the Jardin du Luxembourg in Paris, France. Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did! Before you leave France, be sure to visit the picture I was telling you about. Enjoy the view!

THE MONUMENT OF TRUTH
When our son was 12, he was, well, TWELVE. A very hard age to be and I am sure none of us would want to go back to that age. Right before teenage and not quite a kid, it was an especially hard age for a boy.


He was an extra smart kid, too, which didn't help matters much. Whizzed through most everything but the important stuff and just wanted to be like everyone else his age. He didn't want to do anything but read comic books and watch tv, but especially not his chores; but since he knew we wouldn't let him get away with it, he started lying.


This was an especially sore subject to my husband and I as we were both working as Police Officers and dealt with liars on a daily basis. We tried to teach our son the value of your reputation; how others see you is how many times you are treated; how once you lose that respect and trust it is very hard if not impossible in some situations to get it back. Sadly, none of this was sinking in.


He started fibbing about the littlest things; things that could be proven as a lie easily. Was it a cry for help, or a case of BEING TWELVE? We decided to see.


My husband and I sat him down and talked to him seriously; Reiterated the importance of honor and your name and reputation. How great people in our history and family fought hard for their name and reputation. How generations had struggled to keep that name in good standing.


We then told him that if he was caught lying again, there would be consequences. We could see that this little talk had not been enlightening to him. So, we waited.


Sure enough, the very next day he was caught in two different lies. My husband said very calmly, "You have an hour to do what you want. Be sure you eat and drink something and dress warmly, and then meet me by the front door in one hour." I peeked in his room during that hour, where he watched tv and laid on his bed.


At the end of the appointed hour, he was by the door waiting for my husband. He asked him where his jacket was, and our son said he didn't need one. Out they went to the half-acre we have next to the house. It is very uneven and full of rocks. My husband said, "You will pick up all the rocks here and stack them in a pile. When you are done, you can come inside."


After about 15 minutes, here he comes to the door. My husband said, "What is it?" He replied, "I need a drink". My husband gestured to the hose. "There you go." Another 15 minutes went by, and we peeked out the window to see him sitting on the ground doing nothing. Shortly after that, he tried to come in and get a jacket...my husband pointed him to the horse barn to get a blanket. He finally got the message that he wasn't going to come in until he finished.


After that, he really applied himself. He took every rock in that half-acre and stacked them in a tall pile. When he was done, my husband asked me to come out with him and the three of us stood in the dark, under the stars, looking at the giant pile of rocks. My husband cleared his throat and said, " This is the Monument of Truth that you built. Each rock represents your word and your reputation. It is tall, has a solid foundation and is proud and that's how we want people to see you."


And then he leaned in close, hugged my son and said softly, "And if you ever lie again, we're going to make you come out and put them all back where you found them."


I'm happy to say that experience changed our son, and the lying stopped. After high school he went into the Army and became a linguist. Today he is a chef on a private yacht, and a world traveler; but when he does come home, he takes friends out to the half-acre and shows them the Monument of Truth, where it all began. 
GARDEN GIGGLE
 What do you get if you cross a sheepdog with a rose?
A collie-flower

What do you get if you cross a dog and a lion?
A terrified postman

What did the hungry Dalmatian say when he finished eating?
That hit the spots!

What do you call a happy Lassie?
A jolly collie

What do you call a crazy dog in Australia?
A dingo-ling


FAUNA

WHAT IN THE WORLD? OVER THE GARDEN FENCE
On today in American history, people in gardens everywhere were talking about:
1769 First Catholic mission in California dedicated
1790 Congress declares Washington D.C. new capital
1808 Lewis and Clark help form the Missouri Fur Co
1935 First parking meter installed
1945 Atom bomb successfully tested by U.S.
1951 Catcher in the Rye is published
1969 Apollo 11 departs Earth
1999 JFK Jr killed in plane crash
2012 Sylvester Stallone's son Sage is found dead in his apartment

FEEDBACK
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2 comments:

Virginia said...

Liked the monument of truth story and the sculptures, too!

Therese said...

Great shot!!