excellence
excellent - adj. 1. possessing superior merit. 2. remarkably good
good - adj. 1. morally excellent
i've been pondering lately about what is good, and what is not good. it's a pretty subjective thing, really. my daughter's new Hummer is, to her, undoubtedly, very good. to me, it seems very NOT good.
so i looked to my Random House dictionary for comfort. i looked up 'excellent', and found more questions. because it's still subjective.
so i looked up 'good'.... and found a circular reference. if my dictionary was an exell spreadsheet, there would be all kinds of warnings popping up, telling me the formula is referring to itself.
so i'm back where i started.
three things come to mind, when i think of excellence. they are: commitment; constancy; and intimacy.
to achieve excellence in anything, whether artistic endeavors, or sports, or relationships, or day to day things like growing a garden or raising kids, requires these. we must be committed to the value of what we're doing. we must be constant, keeping at it when the going is not easy, with an eye to the future. we must have intimate knowledge of the materials and techniques required to accomplish the goal, and of what the goal is. perfection is not required, or even desired.... or even possible, really. change, however, is mandatory; there's growth involved. and i think there's a kind of unwritten condition, in my mind, that excellence for one party shouldn't come a the expense of another. beautiful things made by poor people in sweatshops, for rich people to use, are not excellent.
things that are excellent
salad made from organically grown veggies picked just outside my back door.
tomato sauce in jars that glow warmly at me when i open the door to my pantry on a cold winter's eve
a friend who knows all the bad stuff about me and still loves me
the spontaneous giggles of children
warm sun on my face
hand-knitted mittens
a day off from work, with pay, (today, in fact!) to appreciate how lucky i am to have a good job
home grown music
a good story, told by a good storyteller, in good company
the raspberries in my freezer, picked by my elderly neighbor, from her world famous raspberry patch, and given to me, just because she knows i love them
a warm, soft, comfy, hand-made quilt
my love of food comes through loud and clear there. i'm thinking this theme would make a very nice list, done up in caligraphy. i'm looking for additiions... ? they don't have to be food
good - adj. 1. morally excellent
i've been pondering lately about what is good, and what is not good. it's a pretty subjective thing, really. my daughter's new Hummer is, to her, undoubtedly, very good. to me, it seems very NOT good.
so i looked to my Random House dictionary for comfort. i looked up 'excellent', and found more questions. because it's still subjective.
so i looked up 'good'.... and found a circular reference. if my dictionary was an exell spreadsheet, there would be all kinds of warnings popping up, telling me the formula is referring to itself.
so i'm back where i started.
three things come to mind, when i think of excellence. they are: commitment; constancy; and intimacy.
to achieve excellence in anything, whether artistic endeavors, or sports, or relationships, or day to day things like growing a garden or raising kids, requires these. we must be committed to the value of what we're doing. we must be constant, keeping at it when the going is not easy, with an eye to the future. we must have intimate knowledge of the materials and techniques required to accomplish the goal, and of what the goal is. perfection is not required, or even desired.... or even possible, really. change, however, is mandatory; there's growth involved. and i think there's a kind of unwritten condition, in my mind, that excellence for one party shouldn't come a the expense of another. beautiful things made by poor people in sweatshops, for rich people to use, are not excellent.
things that are excellent
salad made from organically grown veggies picked just outside my back door.
tomato sauce in jars that glow warmly at me when i open the door to my pantry on a cold winter's eve
a friend who knows all the bad stuff about me and still loves me
the spontaneous giggles of children
warm sun on my face
hand-knitted mittens
a day off from work, with pay, (today, in fact!) to appreciate how lucky i am to have a good job
home grown music
a good story, told by a good storyteller, in good company
the raspberries in my freezer, picked by my elderly neighbor, from her world famous raspberry patch, and given to me, just because she knows i love them
a warm, soft, comfy, hand-made quilt
my love of food comes through loud and clear there. i'm thinking this theme would make a very nice list, done up in caligraphy. i'm looking for additiions... ? they don't have to be food
posted by grannyfiddler at 6:31 PM
9 Comments:
Hi G.F.,
Thank you for leaving a comment on my blog.
I think it's is food because your a constant gardener not as in the movie title, but as in life. Gardening, nutering, loving life-- it's all good!
Janice~
I see you and Janice found each other. She's almost my neighbor; 30 miles south.
Thanks so much for the Irish blessing.
He's been wearing the hat off and on today. Rochelle keeps putting it back on his head.
my good things are a purring cat, on your lap in the sunshine in the garden.
a calm sea and your destination in sight, paddling with good company(not the cats there, sure they dont like to get their feet wet)
overhearing the argumentative teenager being sensible and thinking , well, something must have sunk in!!!(she was giving her friend a row for skipping class)
You were asking about my dry creek bed and the pond at the end. Its been a long and difficult project but here are a few things i learned
For your fish to survive in the winter your pond much be at least 2 feet deep.
Make it larger than you want because you will want a bigger one when its finished.
Avoid plastic liners, all of them, even the big thick ones, puncture to easily. We used concrete (it must be minimum of 2 inches thick not to leak.
Spray the concrete with vinegar to nuetralize the alkalies that seep out of it and will kill your fish.
Wait at least a week before putting fish in after the concrete has dried.
Since it is fed with runoff from your stream bed don't expect it to be clear all of the time. SAfter ever rain the water will be full of silt and clouded with mud, but thats fine, it will settle eventually.
Its ok if leaves get in your pond. We dig them out every spring. They give the fish a place to hide and believe it or not because the silt and dirt fall through the leaves and to the bottem the leaves help keep it from getting stirred up again.
If you don't want to buy expensive gold fish or koi check out the local bate shop. They often sale large gold fish by the pound for bate. 1/2 pound is usually 14 of them.
Oh yeah, don't be afraid to mix unusual objects in your dry stream bed. I tossed some colorful glass pebbles into mine as well as some fake gold coins (like something a pirate would steal). i think a pirates chest imbedded into my rock wall with gold coins spilling out would be a neat addition someday.
Excellence is found in the way my wife looks at me with that slight smile that tells me she is still very much in love with me. It evokes a silly grin from me that reciprocates the feeling. ec
Harmony in the kitchen!
What an excelent list!
Thanns for the comment. I think you're correct about Hepburn. I remember hearing it years ago and thinking "you go girl"!!
Ann (one of the other grannies - our little group is growing)
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