The Daffodil Principle.

Post 440 ~ ~ ~ Monday, 21st April, 2008.

Hello Everyone ~~ I hope all is well with you and your
loved ones and that the new week is starting well for you
all. The weeks sure do go by quickly, with April soon
turning into May. As I have not great eyesight, I have a
Talking Clock which tells me the time every hour on the
hour and I reckon today, they have been going off too
quickly.

It has been a nice day again here, although I have been
indoors for most of it. I did plant some seedlings of Alyssum -
- Purple and white ones, in the base of my bird hotel, and
they look nice.

Now to find something to post ~ ~ ~

The Daffodil Principal. This story was sent to me by my
dear friend Karen . Thank you so much Karen. The above
pictures came with her e mail.

Several times my daughter had telephoned to say, "Mother,
you must come to see the daffodils."
I wanted to go, but it was a two-hour drive from Laguna to
Lake Arrowhead. "I will come on Tuesday." I promised
after her third call.

Next Tuesday was cold and rainy, but I had promised, so
reluctantly I drove to Carolyn's house. I was welcomed
by the joyful sounds of happy children. I delighted in
seeing my grandchildren.

"Forget the daffodils, Carolyn. The road is invisible in
these clouds and fog. My daughter smiled calmly and said,
"We drive in this all the time, Mother."
"Well, you won't get me back on the road until it clears, and
then I'm heading for home."

"But first we are going to see the daffodils. It's just a few blocks,"
Carolyn said, "I'll drive. You will never forgive yourself if you
miss this exhibition."

After about 20 minutes, we turned onto a small gravel road and
I saw a small church. and I saw a sign that read 'Daffodil Garden.'
We each took a child's hand, and I followed Carolyn down the
path. Then as we turned a corner, I gasped. Before me lay the
most glorious sight.

It looked as though someone had taken a great vat of gold and
poured it over the slopes. The flowers were planted in majestic,
swirling patterns, great ribbons of creamy white, lemon yellow,
salmon pink and saffron and butter yellow. The different colors
were planted in large groups so they swirled and flowed like
a river with its own acres of flowers.

"Who did this?" I asked Carolyn. "Just one woman," Carolyn
answered, as she pointed out a well-kept A -frame house, where
.the lady lived. We walked up to the house.

On the patio, we saw a poster. "Answers to questions I know you
are asking." First answer is simple, "50,000 bulbs"
Second answer was, "One at a time with 2 hands and 2 feet, and
one brain." Third answer, "Began in 1958."

For me, that moment was a life-changing experience. I thought
of this woman who for more than 40 years before, had begun,
one bulb at a time, to bring her vision of beauty to an obscure
mountaintop. One day at a time, she had created something of
Magnificence and extra-ordinary beauty, and inspiration. The
principle her daffodil garden taught is one of the great priciples
of celebration.

That is learning to move toward our goals and desires one step at
a time - -often a baby step at a time and learning to love the doing,
learning to use accumulation of time. When we multiply tiny
pieces of time with small increments of daily effort, we too will find
we can accomplish magnificent things. We can change the world.

"It makes me sad in a way," I admitted to Carolyn. "What might I
have accomplished, a wonderful goal 35 or 40 years ago and worked
away on them all those years? Just think what I could have achieved."

My daughter summed up the message of the day, in her usual direct
way, "Start tomorrow," she said.

She was right. It is so pointless to think of lost hours of yesterdays.
The way to make learning a lesson of celebration instead of a cause
for regret is to ask, "How can I put this to use, today?"

Use the Daffodil Principle. Stop waiting . . . . . .

Until your car or home is paid off
Until you get a new car or home
Until your kids leave home
Until you go back to school
Until you finish school
Until you clean the house
Until you organize the garage
Until you clean off your desk
Until you lose 10 lbs
Until you gain 10 lbs
Until you get married
Until you get a divorce
Until you have kids
Until the kids go to school
Until you retire
Until Summer
Until Spring
Until Winer
Until fall (autumn)
Until you die. . . .

There is no better time than right now to be happy.
Happiness is a journey, not a destination.

Wishing you a beautiful daffodil day !!
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High Blood Pressure.

When a doctor remarked on a new patient's extraordinarily
ruddy complexion, the patient said, "High blood pressure,
Doc. It comes from my family."

"Your mother's or your father's side ?"
"Neither,: the patient replied. It's from my wife's family."

"Oh, come now," the doctor said, "How could your wife's
family give you high blood pressure."

He sighed, "You oughta meet 'em sometime, Doc."
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Thank you Lady Di for the next one.
A mom was concerned about her kindergarten son walking
to school. He didn't want his mother to walk with him. She
wanted to give him the feeling that he had some independence
but yet know that he was safe.

So she had an idea how to handle it. She asked her neighbor
if she would follow him to school in the mornings, staying at a
distance, so he probably wouldn't notice her.

She said that since she was up early with her toddler anyway,
it would be a good way for them to get some exercise, so she
agreed.
The next school day, the neighbor and her little girl set out
following behind Timmy as he walked to school with another
girl he knew. She did this for the whole week.

As the two walked to school,and chatted, kicking stones and
twigs, Timmy's little friend noticed the same lady was following
them as she seemed to do every day of the week.

Finally, she said to Timmy, "Have you noticed that lady following
us to school all week? Do you know her?"

Timmy nonchalantly replied, "Yeah, I know who she is."
The little girl said, "Well, who is she?"

"That's Shirley Goodnest," Timmy replied, "and her daughter Marcy."

"Shirley Goodnest? Who the heck is she and why is she following us?"

"Well," said Timmy, "every night my Mom makes me say the 23rd
Psalm with my prayers, 'cuz she worries about me so much. And in
the Psalm, it says, " Shirley Goodnest and Marcy shall follow me all
the days of my life ' so I guess I'll just have to get used to it !!"

The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face to shine
upon you, and be gracious unto you; the Lord lift His countenance
upon you, and give you peace.

May Shirley Goodnest and Marcy be with you today and always.

I know you smiled. I sure did.
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One I stole from my friend Nick. Thanks Nick.

A lawyer and two friends --- a Rabbi and a Hindu holy man - - -
had car trouble in the countryside and asked to spend the
night with a farmer.

The farmer said, "There might be a problem. You see, I have
only room for two in the house. So one of you must sleep in
the barn"

"No problem," saiys the Rabbi. "My people wandered the
desert for forty years. I am humble enough to sleep in the
barn for one evening." With that he departed to the barn,
and the others bedded down for the night.

Moments later, there came a knock at the door, which the
farmer opened. There stood the Rabbi.
"What's wrong?" asked the farmer.

The Rabbi replied, "I am grateful to you, but I can't sleep in
the barn. There is a pig in the barn, and my faith believes
that is an unclean animal." So the Hindu friend offers to
change places with him. But a few minutes later the same
thing occurs There is a knock at the door.

"What's wrong?" the farmer asks.
The Hindu holy man replies, " I, too am grateful to you for
helping us out, but there is a cow in the barn. In my country
cows are considered sacred and I can't sleep on holy ground."

That left only the lawyer to make the change, He grumbled
and complained, but went out to the barn. Moments later,
there was another knock at the farmer's door.

Frustrated and tired, the farmer opens the door, and there
stood the pig and the cow.
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My friend Lind M sent me these ones on marriage.
Thanks Linda.

Typical macho man married typical good looking girl
and after the wedding, he laid down the following rules :

"I'll be home when I want, if I want and at what time I want and I
don't expect any hassle from you. I expect a great dinner to be
on the table unless I tell you that I won't be home for dinner. I'll
go hunting, fishing, boozing and playing cards when I want with
my old buddies and don't give me a hard time about it.Those are
the rules. Any comments?"

His new bride said, "No, that's fine with me. Just understand that
there will be sex here at seven o'clock every night . . . . whether
you're here or not."


Husband and wife had a bitter quarrel on the day of their 40th
wedding anniversary. The husband yells, "When you die, I'm
getting you a headstone that reads: "HereLies my Wife - - Cold
as Ever." "Yeah," she replied, "When you die, I'm getting you
a headstone that reads: :Here Lies my Husband - Stiff at Last."


Husband (a doctor) and his wife are having a fight at the break-
fast table. Husband gets into a rage and says, "And you're no good
in bed either," and storms out of the house.

After some time, he realizes he was nasty and decides to make
amends and rings her up. She comes to the phone after many
rings, and the irritated husband says, "What took you so long
to answer the phone?"

She says, ""I was in bed." In bed, this early, doing what?"
"Getting a second opinion."


A man has six children and is very proud of his achievment.
He is so proud of himself, that he starts calling his wife, "Mother
of Six" in spite of her objections.

One night they go to a party. The man decides it's time to go
home and wants to find out if his wife is ready to leave as well.
He shouts at the top of his voice, "Shall we go home, Mother of Six?"

His wife, irritated by her husband's lack of discretion, shouts back,
"Anytime, you're ready, Father of Four."


A man and wife were having some problems at home and were
giving each other the silent treatment. Suddenly the man
realized that the next day, he would need his wife to wake him
at 5 a.m. for an early morning business flight. Not wanting to
be the first to break the silence and (LOSE) he wrote on a piece
of paper. "Please wake me at 5 a.m." He left it where he knew
she would find it.

The next morning, the man woke up, only to discover that it was
9 a.m. and he had missed his flight. Furious, he was about to go
and see why his wife hadn't wakened him, when he noticed a
piece of paper by the bed. The paper said, "It's 5 a.m. Wake up.:


Men are not equipped for these kind of contests. God may have
created man before woman, but there is always a rough draft
before the masterpiece.
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Just a few sayings before I leave ~ ~ ~

Chop your wood, it will warm you twice. ~~ Mack King.

Common sense is not so common. ~~ French.

Control your emotions or they will control you. ~~Chinese.

Cowards dies many times before their death.~~Shakespeare.

Dally not with other folk's spouses or money.~~Ben Franklin.

Depend on your walking stick and not on other people
~ ~ ~ Japanese.

Destroy your enemy by making him your friend.
~ ~ ~ Abraham Lincoln.
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Bye for now folks. I hope you enjoy the week we have
begun. Take care of yourselves and each other.
Love and best wishes to you all. Cheers, Merle.

Post 440 ~ ~ ~ Monday, 21st April, 2008.
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