SkyWatch Friday: To cheer God along

I love an earnest soul,

Whose mighty joy and sorrow

Are not drowned in a bowl,
And brought to life to-morrow;
That lives one tragedy,
And not seventy; 
A conscience worth keeping;
Laughing not weeping;
A conscience wise and steady,
And forever ready;
Not changing with events,
Dealing in compliments; 
A conscience exercised about
Large things, where one may doubt.
I love a soul not all of wood,
Predestinated to be good,
But true to the backbone
Unto itself alone,
And false to none;

Born to its own affairs,
Its own joys and own cares;
By whom the work which God begun
Is finished, and not undone;
Taken up where he left off,
Whether to worship or to scoff;
If not good, why then evil,
If not good god, good devil.
Goodness! you hypocrite, come out of that,
Live your life, do your work, then take your hat.
I have no patience towards
Such conscientious cowards.
Give me simple laboring folk,
Who love their work,
Whose virtue is song
To cheer God along.

= Henry David Thoreau =

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Happy Friday ~ Happy Weekend

Daggy and her cuzzies

Baby Dagny met her cousins yesterday.

They were instantly as enthralled with Dagny as the rest of us.

It cannot be helped.

What on earth does one do when a kid who is already criminally cute, gets cuter by the day, if not by the minute?

Even semi-zonked, and with hat head?

It's a mystery but for one thing, you hold her tiny hand.

That's how cousin Andrew was moved to express his devotion.

However, he tends to be moody, and the next moment he was in tears.

Ah well. Allissa and Melanie more than made up for Andrew's discomfiture with their tender maternal tendencies.

Baby Dagny was very comfortable in their capable baby-loving arms.

Proving once again, there is nothing much sweeter than little children enjoying one another's company.

The bigger kids find the littler kids endlessly fascinating, and the little kids like the bigger kids because they understand even without being told, it's pretty special to be a kid.

Everybody had a very good time and helped make precious memories.

Especially Baby Dagny, who bids you a Happy Wednesday.

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Nobody will understand the craziness of your family better than your cousins.

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Dagny lives the dream

Our little eight-day-wonder is in fine fettle, thank you very much.

Baby Dagny loves the outdoors.

Her mother takes her outside several times a day and walks with her around and around the swimming pool.

Just a few minutes is all it takes for Baby Dagny to get all wide-eyed.

We can't wait until the weather is temperate enough to take her for long walks in her new stroller.

Meanwhile, Baby Dagny and all of us wish you a happy new week.

A half-dozen delightful Dagny days

Baby Dagny is six days old.

I don't think it would be a stretch to say that she is enjoying her life.

There is that delicious 24-hour buffet, for one thing.

And when it comes to sleeping or simply lounging about, several comfortable options are available to Baby Dagny.

Mama and Mamaw are there to more or less constantly make a fuss.

Aunt Erica holds out loving protective arms whenever possible.

Tonight, Uncle Andrew is coming from Tennessee to meet his niece and spend time with her.

It has been a week of overwhelming love and happiness.

Baby sweetness! That is Dagny.

Thank you all for sharing in our joy.

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Happy Weekend

The Daily Dagny

I realized yesterday, there had been no pictures of Baby Dagny with her eyes open since that fleeting time on Saturday night when she was only a few minutes old.

Oh wait. I guess there was one on Sunday, the one in which she gazed out of the hospital window and contemplated the meaning of life. Scroll down.

Anyway it was a situation I knew must be quickly rectified.

So it was that as Dagny chilled in her purple polka-dotted bouncy seat -- a gift from her great-grandmother -- looking all alert and wise, I felt she should be placed in the sunny doorway and photographed.

What you need to understand about Baby Dagny is, she is a very good little child.

I carried her outside this morning at five o'clock, and she heard the birdies begin to sing and saw a few remaining bright stars, plus a glowing slice of waning gibbous moon. For the first time!

She hardly cries at all except when she is hungry, which is basically all the time but then, who isn't?

Hungry all the time, I mean.

Or rather -- in Dagny's case -- a combination of that and being continually blissed out on the nearer-than-nearness of her doting mother.

She is a classic example of the time-tested, never-improved-upon, infant-perfected dream-all-day, dine-all-night mode.

But she's as calm as she is cute, and that's really saying something. Don't you agree?

Soulful too.

Stay tuned for many outfit changes -- Aunt Erica brought home yet another new summer ensemble yesterday, after a trip to Target -- and various additional props and accoutrement.

Baby Dagny the most precious, the most adored, the most delectable of infant miracles, bids you Happy Thursday.

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The best baby-sitters, of course, are the baby’s grandparents.

You feel completely comfortable entrusting your baby to them for long periods,

which is why most grandparents flee to Florida.

= Dave Barry =

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