Dawn just started her blog in March at By Sun and Candlelight, but she already has a plethora of posts, mostly about poetry. I thought this one, All Things Bright and Beautiful was a particularly good reminder for Earth Day. We can celebrate not just the Earth, but the Lord God who made it all. In fact, I bought this book as an Easter present for the urchins. Isn’t it beautiful?

Or if you’re not in the mood for Earth Day, warm and fuzzy, bright and beautiful, you could re-read Animal Farm by George Orwell. I just read it again for the British Literature class I’m teaching (the first time was oh-so-very-many years ago in high school), and I found it fascinating. “All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others. I mention this book because I just read it and also because today is the birthday of Vladimir I. Lenin, b. 1870.

Also, Kurt Wiese, b. 1887. He was the illustrator of The Five Chinese Brothers by Claire Bishop and also the Freddy the Pig books by Walter Brooks.

Jan de Hartog, b. 1914. Author of The Peaceable Kingdom and The Lamb’s War (We’re back to the animal/creatures great and small theme, sort of.) I think I read The Peaceable Kingdom back when I was in high school and had decided to become a Quaker and a pacifist. I didn’t find many (any) Quakers in West Texas to associate with, and I’m no longer a pacifist. Mothers with a brood of eight chicks tend to believe in defending the brood.

Immanuel Kant, b. 1754. As far as I know, Kant has nothing whatsoever to do with anything bright and beautiful. Nor does he write about animals. Nor was he a Quaker or a pacifist, as far as I know. I haven’t read Kant, but dense and cloudy would be more appropriate words for him, from what I’ve heard.