Hopalong Cassidy Trail
Streator, Illinois
I read this morning of William Wordsworth taking a walk with his sister Dorothy along Lake Ullswater up in the mountains of England. The wild daffodils made a lasting impression on their hearts. He made this walk with her on April 15th, 1802, according to the Writer's Almanac. Dorothy's journal has allowed the date of the walk to be determined. I have imagined over and over this walk with his sister this morning as I walked through the neighborhood, blooming daffodils along the fences.
Wordsworth and his sister's belonged to a society of poets who retreated to the Lake District. In time, Wordsworth wrote the famous poem, "I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud", to celebrate what he felt, walking with his sister. I came to know about William Wordsworth through this poem. I just learned about his sister today who, like Emily Dickinson, didn't publish much in her life.
April is the cruelest month. Almost everyone well read knows T.S. Eliot wrote this poetic truth. Fewer know that he explained by claiming "Winter kept us warm". Welcome to April, the weirdest April ever. Many taxpaying Americans checked their bank account today and found an advance from the IRS.
Today, no one was required to file forms and pay taxes to the tax authority, usually an April 15th ritual. And instead of planning a night on the town to spend the windfall, we might do nothing more than walk into a beer cave and pick out a case to drink at home. We are safest at home and safest away from home in the beer cave where droplets of Covidia Number 19 must freeze upon exhalation. I'm not a doctor so your results might vary.
We are lucky to walk through the daffodils, able to breath, watching the melting snow upon the lawn.
By The Library of Congress - Ullswater, Howtown Pier, Lake District, England https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=26067288
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