Poem: On a Night of Snow

Two quotes:

If you are plan­ning for a year, sow rice; 
if you are plan­ning for a decade, plant trees; 
if you are plan­ning for a life­time, edu­cate people.
–Chi­nese proverb

Start by doing what is nec­es­sary, then do what is pos­si­ble, and sud­den­ly you are doing the impossible.
–St. Fran­cis of Assisi

Two arti­cles that I found interesting:
School Smarts Help in Real World
Adult ADHD: More Con­tro­ver­sy, Treatments

But only one poem, which I post large­ly for the sake of shad­owkatt:
“On a Night of Snow,”
by Eliz­a­beth Coatsworth

Cat, if you go out­doors, you must walk in the snow.
You will come back with lit­tle white shoes on your feet,
lit­tle white shoes of snow that have heels of sleet.
Stay by the fire, my Cat. Lie still, do not go.
See how the flames are leap­ing and hiss­ing low,
I will bring you a saucer of milk like a marguerite,
so white and so smooth, so spher­i­cal and so sweet -
stay with me, Cat. Out­doors the wild winds blow.

Out­doors the wild winds blow, Mis­tress, and dark is the night,
strange voic­es cry in the trees, inton­ing strange lore,
and more than cats move, lit by our eyes green light,
on silent feet where the mead­ow grass­es hang hoar -
Mis­tress, there are por­tents abroad of mag­ic and might,
and things that are yet to be done. Open the door!