Quote of the Day (S.J. Perelman, on Immortality)

“Immortality is a chancy matter, subject to the caprice of the unborn.”— American humorist and screenwriter S.J. Perelman (1904-1979), The World of S. J. Perelman: The Marx Brothers' Greatest Scriptwriter (2006)

Quote of the Day (Alice Meynell, on the Origin of All Things)

“I am like a stream that flows

Full of the cold springs that arose      

  In morning lands, in distant hills;    

  And down the plain my channel fills           

With melting of forgotten snows.”— Alice Meynell (1847–1922), “A Song of Derivations,” in Preludes (1875)

I took the photo accompanying this post in December 2010 at the Tenafly Nature Center, not far from me in Bergen County, N.J. From what I see of the preserve’s Web site, its trails and visitor center are closed following Hurricane Sandy. Here’s hoping that it—along with other parks and preserves where you and I live—re-open soon.