Acres of Diamonds

Decades ago, I read an inspirational pamphlet

that contained an excerpt from Russel Conwell's

speech "Acres of Diamonds."

Conwell was a former Civil War soldier, writer, lawyer, and

pastor and founder of Temple University in Pennsylvania.

The speech was first given in the years following the Depression of 1873, 

and it is an exhortation to grow spiritually and financially rich.

photo courtesy of morguefile.com

The speech is available in its entirety here:

http://www.temple.edu/about/history/acres-diamonds

It is very long, and filled with many stories about men

who left home to seek their fortunes, only to find that the riches they sought

were already in their own backyards all along.

Although many of the speech's sentiments are somewhat dated,

the core message: to find your spiritual prosperity right where you are, is timeless.

For years, the title "acres of diamonds" has stuck in my mind.

Not because of the message, which apparently didn't stick with me very long.

What remained with me was this visual image:

 the beauty of acres of glittering, sparkling diamonds.

In Conwell's story, an Arabic priest describes diamonds as 

"congealed drops of sunlight."

And my imagined acres of sparkling diamonds 

would surely be filled with a tiny drop of sun

and probably a rainbow too.

photo courtesy of morguefile.com

One of the things that I've found unique to Virginia

is that our roadways are full of tiny flecks of mica.

I'm not sure why that is, but I've been many places where the pavement

has no sparkle.

On a sunny day, the road before us stretches out with thousands of tiny sparkles.

At night, the road glitters in the street lights like a million diamonds cast by hand.

Those are my acres of diamonds.

Finding the sparkle in one's everyday world--

really the only diamonds we'll ever need.

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Spring Wildflowers

"Creeping Charlie and the Other (Unnoticed) Wild Flowers of Spring"

For the last few days, we've had more sun than rain in the Shire.

And that warmth has caused many spring wildflowers to proliferate.

Spring wildflowers to me or, depending on your point of view, lawn weeds.

I've noticed that the wildflowers of spring grow much lower to the ground

than summer wildflowers do.

photo courtesy of morguefile.com

For example, the purple blooms of henbit 

and the tiny white flowers of chickweed

are nestled in the grass for a long time before they stretch out.

The henbit gets taller, the chickweed spreads wider.

On my drive to work, I pass whole fields of henbit.

And yesterday, while stopped at a stoplight, I noticed the median

was full of golden-yellow buttercups

and ubiquitous fuzzy yellow dandelions.

And other yellow blossoms pop up from oxalis and purslane.

This time of year, little drops of sunshine all.

photo courtesy of morguefile.com

The tiny ground flower that I like the best

 is the one with the scalloped round leaves and the tiny blue blossoms.

I learned it is commonly called "Creeping Charlie."

Wikipedia.org says glechoma hederacea has many other names: 

Gill-over-the-Ground,

Alehoof, Catsfoot, Field Balm, and Run-away Robin.

photo courtesy of morguefile.com

The English Herbalists considered Creeping Charlie or Gill-over-the-Ground

to be an effective remedy for tinnitus, eye inflammation,

and a variety of intestinal ailments.

However, today the plant is considered poisonous. 

Even if it's not grown for its medicinal purposes,

I read that it can be grown in a flower pot.

That would be an interesting experiment.

I wonder if a planter could be filled 

with creeping charlie, henbit, chickweed, etc. 

What might that look like? 

It could be quite beautiful if they 

were all brought together in the right proportions.

Or not.

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April Fool's Day

When I was growing up, April Fool's Day

was a good day for my family 

to play tricks and practical jokes on one another.

I recall one year we tied my dad's clothes together.

Usually we would just give "news" that we knew to be false,

and then when someone would comment, we'd shout "April Fool's!"

As with many holidays and observances,

this one has deep historical roots.

photo courtesy of morguefile.com

According to the web site The Ancient Standard,

a site devoted to making history interesting to the average person,

April Fool's was first mentioned by Chaucer in the Canterbury Tales, 

but other sources I read say it originated in France.

Most agree April Fool's began after the switch to the Gregorian calendar.

 In the Julian calendar, New Year's Day 

followed the Vernal Equinox--any time between March 20 to April 5,

but customarily April 1, according to the Ancient Standard.

So those who forgot the change or refused to go along with it

in favor of the old Julian calendar were dubbed "April fools."

The "April fools" were the target of practical jokes,

one of which was to have someone surreptitiously place 

a fish-shaped tag on their backs without their knowledge.

These poor folks were then taunted with the words 

poisson d'avril, meaning "April fish."

That must have been the medieval version of the "kick me" sign.

image courtesy of morguefile.com

While reading about April Fool's Day,

I also wondered about the term "practical joke."

The Oxford English Dictionary confirms an obscure meaning 

for the word "practical." 

In its April Fool's sense, it derives from the terms "practics" and "practice."

"Practics" meant artful, cunning or crafty.

"Practice" once meant the act of scheming or trickery."

Word meanings change over the centuries, 

but apparently human nature never does.

So today we should choose our pranks wisely,

lest we become the next April fishes.

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