As soon as the snow melts the grass begins to grow. Even
though the daytime high is barely above freezing, even
though May is very like November, marsh marigolds bloom
in the swamp and the popple trees produce a faint green
that hangs under the low clouds like a haze over the valley.
This is the way the saints live, no complaints, no suspicion,
no surprise. If it rains, carry an umbrella, if it’s cold, wear
a jacket.
~ Louis Jenkins, “Saints” from “Just Above Water: Prose Poems“
Notes: Poem: Thank you Beth @ Alive on all Channels. Photo: Marsh Marigold in Swamp via nature preserves
Live & Learn 
I just saw this lived out in Shanghai! It has changed me deeply. 🙏🏻
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Shanghai! You are just our renaissance Queen. We are in awe. We are not worthy!
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Oh you are worthy! Ha 🙏🏻
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🙂
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Simple advice. Go with the flow. Pretty much my mantra.
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And flow and flow and flow…
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Yes. Lord knows the flows come and go, don’t they?
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Oh, they do…they do.
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and you remind me of this big flow:
“Wouldn’t it be nice to be one of those people who doesn’t overthink anything, who just goes with the flow—who lives the unexamined life?” I remember saying that there was a difference between examining and dwelling, and if we’re cut off from our feelings, just skating on the surface, we don’t get peace or joy—we get deadness.
~ Lori Gottlieb, Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, HER Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed. (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, April 2, 2019)
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Oh yes.
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Such good advice, AND a great text/photo combo….
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It is. Thank you Kiki.
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Perfectly simple and simply perfect!
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It really is…
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Yes David a great advice and just flow with the times.
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It is…and bring a jacket. 🙂
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Hahaha for sure David.
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Always workin’ on my ‘attitude of gratitude.’ 🙏🏻
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We can never work on that hard and long enough…
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Ain’t that the truth?!
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such a good metaphor for all of life
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It really is…
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No complaints, no suspicion, no surprise 😇 Being at peace with the weather is a great measure of our enlightenment!
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Yes!
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Reblogged this on It Is What It Is and commented:
What to do? … JUST ABOVE WATER … ‘This is the way the saints live, no complaints, no suspicion,
no surprise. If it rains, carry an umbrella, if it’s cold, wear
a jacket … Louis Jenkins, “Saints” from “Just Above Water: Prose Poems“
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Love the photo of the delicate yellow marsh marigolds–they come through the cold and wet with their beauty.
…and, wear a waterproof jacket!
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Smiling. Yes Valerie…
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Just a tad common sense
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Yes, and only to comply!
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The Marsh Marigolds are blooming along the creek and in our yard (even under the Aspen tree) as I type away…he and the dog walked along the creek this morning he came through the door with a wildflower bouquet: white daisy, fragrant pink wild roses, darker pink clover, purple camas, wild grass, a closed goats beard and petite yellow pea or vetch flowers, so dainty part of the tendrils’ veining blossoms have gone to seed looking just like the edible peas in our garden only so tiny..
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Beautiful! Thanks for sharing.
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