The hardware store in a nearby village uses their signboard to entertain (and instruct) passersby with witty sayings. Today the board reads “Bark less, wag more.”
I’m sure it’s a reference to a popular list of advice that was circulated on the internet years ago:
Eat less, exercise more. Talk less, think more. Ride less, walk more. Worry less, work more. Waste less, give more. Preach less, practice more. Frown less, laugh more. Scold less, praise more. Regret less, aspire more. Hate less, love more.
It’s all good, but “bark less, wag more” really says it all.
The secret of life is enjoying the passage of time
Any fool can do it
There ain’t nothin’ to it
Nobody knows how we got to the top of the hill
But since we’re on our way back down
Might as well enjoy the ride …
– James Taylor
When I was growing up, one of my mom’s friends made little notes that were posted inside cabinet doors in our kitchen. The Zen-like poem above was one of them. It was accompanied by a little watercolor sketch of a tuft of grass.
Another of the notes read: “Stop worrying! It’s bad for your blood pressure!” which is just another way of saying the same thing. I don’t remember when these notes first appeared, but they became part of the kitchen landscape, along with the yellowing recipe cards tacked up inside the cabinet door where the baking supplies were stored.
Today spring comes. Nothing we did brought it; nothing we could do could stop it. Outside the scene is much the same as yesterday — a cold wind blowing a few dried leaves across the yard. But I know the warmth is coming.
Let me live in a house by the side of the road and be a friend to man
