The Riddle of the World - by Alexander Pope

Alexander Pope (1688-1744)

The Riddle of the World

by

Alexander Pope

Know then thyself, presume not God to scan

The proper study of Mankind is Man.

Placed on this isthmus of a middle state,

A Being darkly wise, and rudely great;

With too much knowledge for the Skeptic side,

With too much weakness for the Stoic's pride,

He hangs between; in doubt to act, or rest;

In doubt to deem himself a God, or Beast;

In doubt his mind and body to prefer;

Born but to die, and reas'ning but to err;

Whether he thinks to little, or too much;

Chaos of Thought and Passion, all confus'd;

Still by himself, abus'd or disabus'd;

Created half to rise and half to fall;

Great Lord of all things, yet a prey to all,

Sole judge of truth, in endless error hurl'd;

The glory, jest and riddle of the world.

Perfect Lawn - by Nana of the North

                         Perfect lawn? What is the sense of having all that grass if no one is allowed to be on it? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bulletin Board, Pioneer Press

Posted:   08/17/2012 12:01:00 AM CDT

Updated:   08/17/2012 09:27:32 PM CDT

Writes Nana of the North: "We have a neighbor who is obsessed with his lawn. He had an underground watering system installed; he fertilizes it every month; he hand-picks the dead leaves that fall on it; he mows it when it grows a quarter of a inch.

"Granted, it is beautiful, but it looks so lonesome.

"When my daughters were little, their father was also obsessed about the lawn. The girls couldn't have a swing set unless it was way out in the back of the lot, and God forbid if sand from the sandbox touched the perfect lawn.

"When I was a child, my father mowed the lawn when it needed it, raked when it needed it, but always wanted us kids to play on it. I have so many wonderful memories of playing on the lawn. I would play I was camping under a blanket thrown over the clotheslines, and playing Annie Annie Over, throwing a ball over the garage roof.

"What is the sense of having all that grass if no one is allowed to be on it? Kinda like putting carpet in a room, then not letting anyone walk on it.

"The grass always grows back, and you can always replace a carpet, but you can never put back memories in the mind of a child who was told: 'Don't play on the grass.' "