Before Commencement

The miracle is not to fly in the air, not to walk
on water, but to walk on the earth. (Chinese Proverb)

PIED BEAUTY  by Gerard Manley Hopkins

Glory be to God for dappled things -
For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;
For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;
Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches' wings;
Landscape plotted and pieced--fold, fallow, and plough;
And all trades, their gear and tackle and trim.

All things counter, original, spare, strange;
Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)
With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;
He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change:
Praise him.  


My Parting Advice:
Appreciate the diverse beauty of what you behold 
in life.  Make wise decisions and be kind.