Poem: "Life Is in the Little Things"
Jun. 27th, 2016 08:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithThis poem was sponsored by LJ user Je_reviens based on "the little things" square in my 6-1-16 card for the Cottoncandy Bingo fest.
Life Is in the Little Things
It is not the biggest things,
the brightest or darkest moments
that matter the most.
Life is in the little things,
so easily overlooked, and yet
they make up the hours of our days.
It is walking around the yard
on a summer day to see what
is ripe and what is blooming and
whether the grass needs to be mowed.
Here are tiny tufts of white clover,
the big balls of red, the dainty cups
of Queen Anne's lace nodding regally
as the butterflies float by.
It is going indoors when the sun
gets too hot and sitting down with
magazines to clip out articles that are
thought-provoking or just good for a smile.
There are stamps for marking books
and file folders and cards to be mailed,
pressed onto colorful pads of ink then onto
waiting paper, leaving a perfect impression.
It is making ice cream by hand
with nothing more than milk and cream,
sugar and vanilla, because in a bowl
there are berries waiting patiently to be
poured on top of it, the red strawberries
and purple mulberries sweet from the sun.
It is playing board games with
friends and family, laughing away
the long summer afternoon
and then, in the evening, when
the blue twilight begins to descend,
looking out through the window
to watch the fireflies.
It is these moments which fill up
the photograph albums of our memories,
not with life's greatest achievements,
but with the little things.
Life Is in the Little Things
It is not the biggest things,
the brightest or darkest moments
that matter the most.
Life is in the little things,
so easily overlooked, and yet
they make up the hours of our days.
It is walking around the yard
on a summer day to see what
is ripe and what is blooming and
whether the grass needs to be mowed.
Here are tiny tufts of white clover,
the big balls of red, the dainty cups
of Queen Anne's lace nodding regally
as the butterflies float by.
It is going indoors when the sun
gets too hot and sitting down with
magazines to clip out articles that are
thought-provoking or just good for a smile.
There are stamps for marking books
and file folders and cards to be mailed,
pressed onto colorful pads of ink then onto
waiting paper, leaving a perfect impression.
It is making ice cream by hand
with nothing more than milk and cream,
sugar and vanilla, because in a bowl
there are berries waiting patiently to be
poured on top of it, the red strawberries
and purple mulberries sweet from the sun.
It is playing board games with
friends and family, laughing away
the long summer afternoon
and then, in the evening, when
the blue twilight begins to descend,
looking out through the window
to watch the fireflies.
It is these moments which fill up
the photograph albums of our memories,
not with life's greatest achievements,
but with the little things.
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(no subject)
Date: 2016-06-28 02:18 am (UTC)Yay!
Date: 2016-06-28 02:38 am (UTC)I like twilight too.
(no subject)
Date: 2016-06-28 04:50 am (UTC)I gotta find our ice cream maker.
Thank you!
Date: 2016-06-28 05:05 am (UTC)I'm glad you enjoyed this.
>> I gotta find our ice cream maker. <<
Mine is a Cuisinart, very fine machine. I should take it out and make ice cream. It's hard to find the time, though.
RE: Thank you!
Date: 2016-06-28 06:50 am (UTC)«the dainty cups
of Queen Anne's lace nodding regally»
Love that.
Re: Thank you!
Date: 2016-06-28 07:15 am (UTC)Okay, I recommend the model I have. It's affordable, easy to use, and makes great ice cream. I've only noticed one flaw: if you pour the batter in before turning on the machine, it can break the paddle. You have to remember to turn the machine on FIRST and then pour in the batter.
I have an earlier version of the recipe book, but this one still includes many recipes that use fresh ingredients.
I've also posted some of my own ice cream recipes in my blogs, just scroll back to look for them.
Helpful tips:
Macerating fruit makes it more flavorful and releases the juices. Put fruit in bowl, add a splash of lemon juice, sprinkle with sugar. Let sit at room temperature for a few hours, stirring occasionally. You can pour the juice directly into the batter, but don't add the fruit pulp until the ice cream is almost frozen.
Freezing fruit breaks the cell membranes and releases the juices. This makes it easier to mash up for your ice cream so that you are not left with little frozen rocks in it.
Use sugar and fat to taste. Often I find it needs less than the recipe calls for. If fruit is sweet or you macerated it, add sugar cautiously. Quite a nice ice milk can be made using half-and-half and whole milk, or heavy cream and 2%; use 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract instead of 1.
«the dainty cups
of Queen Anne's lace nodding regally»
Love that.<<
Thank you!