Those 70ish Girls

I picked another topic from Uncle Chuck’s book, Wisdom well said. I ran across …lessons we learn from animals. But first, a little more background.

When he retired, Charles Francis decided to make good use of his library of stories and quotes. He started an Internet business he called ‘The Idea Bank.’ People purchased a membership and could go into the site, pick a subject, and get stories and quotes to add interest to their speech or article. Many speech writers enjoyed the convenience of Uncle Chuck’s well organized, unique, and large volume of information. To say he was well-read is a vast understatement.

The three Francis brothers…from left, Bill, John, and Chuck. Their father died when his sons were 10 (John), 7 (Bill), and 2 (Chuck).

I like this poem about accomplishment, author unknown.

There once was an oyster whose story I’ll tell, Who found that sand got under his shell;

Just one little grain, but it gave him much pain, For oysters have feelings although they’re so plain.

Now, did he berate the working of fate, Which had led him to such a deplorable state?

Did he curse out the government, call for an election? No. As he lay on the shelf, he said to himself,

“If I cannot remove it, I’ll improve it.” So the years rolled by as the years always do,

And he came to the ultimate destiny – stew. But this small grain of sand which had bothered him so,

Was a beautiful pearl, all richly aglow. Now this poem has a moral – for isn’t it grand

What an oyster can do with a morsel of sand. What couldn’t we do if we’d only begin With all of the things that get under our skin.

Teamwork and ego…

The sin (and danger) of excessive pride (or an excessive ego) is admirably demonstrated in this simple fable:

A frog asked two geese to take him south with them. At first they resisted; they couldn’t see how it could be done. Finally, the frog suggested that the two geese hold a stick in their beaks and he would hold onto it with his mouth.

So off the unlikely threesome went, flying southward over the countryside. It was really quite a sight. People looked up and expressed great admiration at this demonstration of creative teamwork.

Someone said, “It’s wonderful! Who was so clever to discover such a fine way to travel?”

Whereupon the frog opened his mouth and said, “It was I,” as he plummeted to the earth.

I’m adding these pictures of two pages of topics. The first one of you to mention a topic in their comment will get some suggestions from the book in the next blog. You can make the photos larger by tapping with your finger.