The gift of books to a gardener and a Taiwanese-American-Anglophile

Janice and Joy brought home my birthday gifts from my three girls, including 3 books and a book bag from Barnes & Noble with an inscription of “A book is like a garden carried in a pocket” among many others.  What we cultivate in the garden is not just flowers and veggies, but also mind.  To read a book is like to cultivate a garden, one expects the growth and harvesting of the mind.

All the books carry inscriptions that please and entertain me.  I would like to share the inscriptions with you.

The inscription on the book of “The collected poems of Emily Dickinson” is

“May Dickinson’s words weave

  a web of garden inspiration,

When winter gives reprieve

  from summer perspiration.”

The inscription on the book of “The complete Peanuts” is

“To the man who taught us
  to start the day with a
  good laugh –

            Happy 70^th Birthday !!

                   Love,
                         Joy, Janice & Jo”

The inscription on the book of “Tudors” is

“His knowledge of this English past
  is so through and so vast
  ‘Tis true! This Taiwanese-American-Anglophile
   is an honorary Brit of that other Isle”

(Now I still have to write a Thank You note to those who took time to celebrate my birthday with me.  The party for which I was not responsible to arrange; it was a surprise to me; I think the conspirators were Janet and Katy.)