Got the poem below as a forward from a friend. It is supposedly by a kid with leukemia...the usual email story which us cynical folks have learned to treat with rocks of salt...but the message is nice.

We figured part of the lesson out a couple of years ago when we realised we wouldn't have the time, with the kind of work we do, to do something another time. Since then, our rule has been - if you think of something, do it right away - be it buying that shirt or taking the kids to the zoo. We did just that last weekend, though both of us were dog-tired after a crazy week and running around for Chubs' birthday party. But I figured the weather was already so hot that another week would make it uninviting for us and the animals would have retired to their nice, cool lairs.

So off we trekked, for Puddi's first zoo trip. We were so unprepared we hadn't even charged the digicam, but we figured the point of the trip was to see the delight on the kids faces, not to take pictures of it, so we went anyway. We didn't wind up seeing everything, since all the mini-cars in the zoo were full-up and Chubbocks got darn tired after a bit. But we did see the rhinos ( which Puddi referred to as Dinosaur), the giraffes, which were simply mesmerizing, moving with balletic grace as if they were swimming underwater; the zebras ( gee bha LA, as per Puds), one solitary lion and the heffalumps( elephants). And we had our first icecreams of the season.

Now if only we could act upon the rest of the lesson and have each day go by at a little slower pace...

SLOW DANCE

Have you ever watched kids

On a merry-go-round?

Or listened to the rain

Slapping on the ground?

Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight?

Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?
You better slow down.

Don't dance so fast.

Time is short.

The music won't last.

Do you run through each day

On the fly?

When you ask How are you?

Do you hear the reply?

When the day is doneDo you lie in your bed

With the next hundred chores

Running through your head?

You'd better slow down

Don't dance so fast.

Time is short.

The music won't last.

Ever told your child,

We'll do it tomorrow?

And in your haste,

Not see his sorrow?

Ever lost touch,
Let a good friendship die

Cause you never had time

To call and say,'Hi'

You'd better slow down.

Don't dance so fast.

Time is short.

The music won't last.

When you run so fast to get somewhere

You miss half the fun of getting there.

When you worry and hurry through your day,

It is like an unopened gift....Thrown away.

Life is not a race.

Do take it slower

Hear the music

Before the song is over