Comments

That is a beautiful picture of a beautiful flower, Tom. And, the days may get shorter starting on the Summer Equinox, but it does mean that Summer is an official presence in the Northeast, and that we'll have a new banner on tompeters.com for the season. So, there are a couple of things to look forward to.

Posted by cathy mosca at June 16, 2008 3:38 PM

the only way to fight a.sad is to play outside until dark every night from now through the 21st.

Posted by erik hansen at June 16, 2008 3:41 PM

Erik...I so remember doing just that playing outside until the last possible minute and rushing home just as the sun was setting. What memories.

Beautiful flower, TP. Thanks. It reminds me of one of my favorite painters, Georgia O'Keefe.

Posted by Judith Ellis at June 16, 2008 4:10 PM

Every year on June 22nd, I get a text or email from my dearest friend which says, "Isn't it terrible to see the evenings drawing in like that?"

And every year on December 22nd he gets one from me saying, "Sure isn't that a grand stretch in the evenings at all at all?"

We've been doing this for almost 30 years. I thought we were the only ones who had noticed ...!

Posted by Rowan Manahan at June 16, 2008 5:59 PM

Rowan...your words make me smile. Thank you.

Posted by Judith Ellis at June 16, 2008 7:50 PM

TP - I recognise the feelings. Maybe if it helps I can be the first to wish you a Happy Christmas! :-)

Posted by Trevor Gay at June 17, 2008 3:30 AM

And I'm suffering Sad Post Syndrome.

I don't want the Home & Garden show, nor a win-something compo; I could likely care less about a busted RSS, and you can shove yer tweets where the sun don't shine.

C'mon, man - shake something up.

Er, uh... that's of course SHAKE SOMETHING UP!!!

And preferably with 5 or 6 rapid-fire stream-of-consciousness blurts which engage and entertain.

;-)

Posted by g at June 17, 2008 6:57 AM

Good to see you g - enjoy the book

Posted by Trevor Gay at June 17, 2008 7:30 AM

Thanks. And if I get flak for that comment above, next time I'm posting in your name - or that lunatic Aussie's.

Posted by g at June 17, 2008 7:35 AM

g, whoops ... guess I took a few too "still my mind" many meds!

Posted by tom peters at June 17, 2008 7:55 AM

>guess I took a few too "still my mind" many meds!

Well, double - or half - the dose... the current level clearly ain't working.

Neither's mine (and haven't for a long time) - but we all knew that anyway.

Posted by g at June 17, 2008 9:48 AM

As I sit here in the northern end of California's central valley, where we're already hitting 106 some days, I attempt, often unsuccessfully, to stifle a small resentment against folks who live in places where it does not reach 106 during spring, nor 111 during the summer.

Dreaming, then, of Killorglin, Co. Kerry, where I know it's 62 and sunny, and where my allergy meds are no longer needed.

My wife's SAD disappeared almost entirely when she married me five years ago. It could be entirely coincidence, or I could genuinely be a suitable substitute for sunshine.

Anita Bryant, eat your heart out . . .

Posted by Joel D Canfield at June 17, 2008 10:39 AM

Bravo, Joel! LOL!

Posted by Judith Ellis at June 17, 2008 10:44 AM

I'll never forget my father, from out Trevor's way, referring to the summer solstice as the Day of Despair, though around Christmas you had the Day of Hope!

The 2008/2009 ski season is just around the corner, though my swamp maple hasn't shed its first red leaf - yet.

Posted by Rick in VT at June 17, 2008 11:40 AM

Rick - Good luck with the ski season. I played all sports I possibly could and loved them all. Tried ski-ing once and fell over too many times - and that was wihtout a drink :-) Where was your Dad from? - he sounds a wise man.

Live every day thinking it is to be your last - 'cos one day you will be right.

Posted by Trevor Gay at June 17, 2008 1:17 PM

Seasons? You guys got SEASONS? Sheesh... what are they? We only have Sunny. And we tend to be smug about it. (or should I say smog? - Los Angeles is not clear like VT, though where I am in the foothills is better)

Seriously, though, my wife and I have worked for a number of years on the fruit gardener's holy grail: always something ripe outside no matter what season. I think we are there now. Right now is the time for blackberries, apricots, peaches, strawberries, mulberries, and blueberries (heavy on the berries right now), so it is hard to feel sad at all (excepting that we ate all our cherries already). There is always something tasty to look forward to: plums and nectarines a-comin'! And come near the Winter solstice and we get Satsuma mandarins (a wee bit o'Heaven in every fruit). Fall is for pears, avocados, guavas, mangoes, and bananas; Spring for the rest of the citrus fruit harvest (more mandarins, oranges, grapefruit). There is a time for everything to get ripe - and thus always a good excuse to slip on the clogs and walk around sampling nature's goodness.

Oh - and I admit I look back with nostalgia at those summer days in Ireland when the sun did not go down till after 10pm - and my friends and I would deliberately remain out of earshot until dark. Thanks for reminding me Judith!

g - sure isn't it grand to think about something else for a change? Appreciating beauty is not wholly unrelated to getting the best out of your employees, y'know. ;-)

Posted by Martin Koning-Bastiaan at June 17, 2008 1:19 PM

"Killorglin, Co. Kerry"

Cleggin. I wanted to own a timeshare there on a corner barstool that looked directly on the fishing boats going to and fro.

Posted by tom peters at June 17, 2008 1:50 PM

Ah, Tom, A Kerryman at heart are you? In Cork we used to have lots of jokes about Kerrymen - but then it was jealousy all dressed up.

Posted by Martin Koning-Bastiaan at June 17, 2008 2:00 PM

Martin...your words are wonderful. Such beauty is a bite of heaven. Such beauty is forever optimistic, forever seeing and expecting the good. Hope replinishes. I thank you.

One of my dearest friends is first generation from Ireland. His parents tell wonderful stories of the country, not to mention the recitation of its writers. Shaw, Joyce, Wilde and Beckett are favorites of mine.

The beauty of the expectant is desirable, but there is also a certain pleasure in the unexpected which I also look forward to.

Thanks, Martin.

Posted by Judith Ellis at June 17, 2008 2:10 PM

ASADs in Jackson Hole is VERY real - not just in VT (sorry, you're not THAT special)- even though it hasn't snowed in about a week!! However, one of the (many) benefits (particularly after an extraordinarily harsh Winter) is the acceleration of Spring and Summer. Everything that lived through the Winter has less time to reach fecundity and harvest. Watch it grow before your eyes!!

Posted by Randy Bosch at June 17, 2008 5:16 PM

gulliver... given this site is dedicated to 'self-promotion' I hope and trust that I am the "lunatic Aussie" you intent to promote here! If so please be my guest... If not please pick me anyway.... bye the way my name is Richard Lipscombe... stay well and have fun my friend .... Tom Peters... good to see that you can "be in the moment" ... this is a key message from Stephanie Palmer your latest Cool Friend - again I have to say that Erik and Stephanie did such a great job with that interview...

Posted by Richard Lipscombe at June 17, 2008 6:02 PM

Hi, Richard.

Posted by Judith Ellis at June 17, 2008 8:09 PM

Hi Judith....

Posted by Richard Lipscombe at June 17, 2008 8:34 PM

Trevor,

My father was raised in Cardiff. In his adult life, times being what they were with Dylan Thomas and all, he loved to affect that he was a Welshman, but the truth is he was British. He was a brilliant intellect, but sadly a shooting star. As you shrewdly divine, his days were particularly numbered. With my 6 year old just out of school, I will spend the morning with her, now that is high living! (And most of my wood is stacked and dry so I'm ready for Winter!)

Posted by Rick in VT at June 18, 2008 6:45 AM

Rick - thanks for that. Wales is indeed a fabulous country with a rich Rugby tradition and of course those wonderful voices possessed by so many Welsh people. I think particularly of the voices of the gifted Richard Burton and Anthony Hopkins. Wales is also a land of awesome literary heritage and Poet Dylan Thomas was a tragic but legendary Welshman who died at only 39 years of age. As he fought his own battles with the bottle he was quoted as saying; “An alcoholic is someone you don't like, who drinks as much as you do." Co-incidentally I am going to Cardiff in 10 days to the wonderful Millennium Stadium with my two sons. The Welsh are a very proud and patriotic nation so I quite understand your father’s pride in his Welsh roots. It’s great that you are with your 6 year old daughter. Spending time with our children is far more important than work and in any case I’ve always learned far more from children than managers. I have occasional (not enough) time with my two grandsons and whilst I am really upbeat and passionate about all things management, leadership and TP, all that stuff seems far less significant in my life when I’m with my children or grandsons. I would love to visit VT one day – maybe I should start chopping the logs now.

Posted by Trevor Gay at June 18, 2008 9:30 AM

Tom - You just need to move farther north. When I lived in Kodiak Alaska I didn't feel it until August or so when I noticed the sun was setting before bed time. But then, maybe the later it hits the harder it hits.

sample viagra for free Posted by Ken Gregg at June 18, 2008 9:51 AM

Knowing that Sunshine always inspires and stimulates me (and knowing that the UK weather is..ahem, unreliable), I have come to the South Of France for a few days to get stuck in to writing my next book. 3 days of focus, solitude and inspiration in the beautiful city of Nice (It's a tough gig but someone had to do it!). And it's working. I've done so much scribbling of ideas in the last 48 hours I have an 'Exam Blister' on my pen-holding finger, last seen at Leeds University circa 1990.

Posted by Ian Sanders at June 18, 2008 11:18 AM

Hey Trevor - so true about children. My employees get a chuckle out of me many days because I will use examples from my kids to explain to them what I want. One of them is "don't let them get to cookies!" - which comes from when my second son was two. If you catch a child when he or she is "hungry" then many times you can get them to eat something decent like vegetables or fruit. But if you let it go too long, their hunger transforms into "need for cookies" and peas just won't cut it any more. So the adage is meant to get my employees to make sure they figure out what the client's issue/problem is - to not let the client think that a particular solution is what is needed PRIOR to the problem being articulated well. Requirements before design. online canadian pharmacy generic viagra

Pithy, cute, always worth a laugh - but so very true. I also have some from my experience as an avid gardener - such as "we are not squirrels" - but explaining that is for another day.

Posted by Martin Koning-Bastiaan at June 18, 2008 11:19 AM

Martin – Amen my friend!

'What a distressing contrast there is between the radiant intelligence of the child and the feeble mentality of the average adult' - Sigmund Freud

Posted by Trevor Gay at June 18, 2008 11:25 AM

Everything that lived through the Winter has less time to reach fecundity and harvest. Watch it grow before your eyes!!

Posted by Peter Wolf at June 18, 2008 1:22 PM

it does seem that the blooms fade so quickly after waiting so long. My wife has a wonderful garden that includes flowers harvested from loved ones we have lost..the irises come up and we think of our friend Dolly, the peonies are from her Grandmother, and the hollyhocks are from Ray, a dear old horse hand that taught us the marvels of that great animal.I have my Mom's four o'clocks, grown from seed harvested from my childhood home. I wait impatiently for the blooms each year, (Judith knows that as a life long Michigander, I am losing my affection for snow and sleet). Since I cannot stretch the seasons, I can only make sure I take time out from my life to spend a little more time in the garden this spring. The peonies are lovely tp!, but you ought to see the day lilies passed down to us from my aunt's garden!

Posted by Mike Neiss at June 18, 2008 8:41 PM

Simply beautiful, Mike. Thank you. I love this post and the comments. Who said that men do not appreciate the delicate side of life, those certain beauties such as flowers, let alone write so eloquently about them? Thanks gentlemen.

Among my favorites are flowers that grow along the US highways, standing amid rough terrains and high winds-resilent, yet so delicate, bright colorful hues. When I travel on the highways I'm thoughtful of Lady Bird Johnson.

Posted by Judith Ellis at June 18, 2008 10:18 PM