Ship shape and able, I set out upon the waters of spring to earn my living as a lover of life; happy eyed and full of tumbled joy. Life and golden days ensued with nary a drop of sooty rain. May came in with blood red tulips and new love, oh what a May. The June days swept by long and lovely, July waded in with thick air and a promise. August had that pushy frankfurter smell, and squeaky hot carouselous days. September walked on stage with a serious note and a book. October was almost too cavernous to bear with its skeletal revealings and its eaten leaves with frayed stems. November is a waiting month, things dim, and nothing seems to happen. Now, it is December with that false glee and artificial lightness born from dark closed-in evenings with blue reflections and sometimes a warm fire with a mate, ending with a weary ribbon. I remember those Januaries past with their stark colorless streets and brown lacy weeded edges in the countryside, hopelessly shortene...