Happiness is a silvan scene

Betwixt two rows of rocks, a silvan scene

Appears above, and groves for ever green.

-- John Dryden

Happiness is fruit so fresh out of the bag the attached leaf is still green

Happiness is the 1870 counting rhyme "Over in the Meadow"

Over in the meadow,

In the sand, in the sun,

Lived an old mother toad

And her little toadie, one;

"Wink!" said the mother,

"I wink," said the one,

So she winked and she blinked

In the sand, in the sun.

Over in the meadow

Where the stream runs blue,

Lived an old mother fish

And her little fishes, two;

"Swim!" said the mother,

"We swim," said the two,

So they swam and they leapt

Where the stream runs blue.

Over in the meadow

In a hole in a tree,

Lived a mother bluebird

And her little birdies, three;

"Sing!" said the mother,

"We sing," said the three,

So they sang and were glad

In the hole in the tree.

Over in the meadow

In the reeds on the shore,

Lived a mother muskrat

And her little ratties, four;

"Dive!" said the mother,

"We dive," said the four,

So they dived and they burrowed

In the reeds on the shore.

Over in the meadow

In a snug bee-hive,

Lived a mother honey-bee

And her little honeys, five;

"Buzz!" said the mother,

"We buzz," said the five,

So they buzzed and they hummed

In the snug bee-hive.

Over in the meadow

In a nest built of sticks,

Lived a black mother crow

And her little crows, six;

"Caw!" said the mother,

"We caw," said the six,

So they cawed and they called

In their nest built of sticks.

Over in the meadow

Where the grass is so even,

Lived a gay mother cricket

And her little crickets, seven;

"Chirp!" said the mother,

"We chirp," said the seven,

So they chirped cheery notes

In the grass green and even.

Over in the meadow

By the old mossy gate,

Lived a brown mother lizard

And her little lizards, eight;

"Bask!" said the mother

"We bask," said the eight,

So they basked in the sun

On the old mossy gate.

Over in the meadow

Where the clear pools shine,

Lived a green mother frog

And her little froggies, nine;

"Croak!" said the mother,

"We croak," said the nine,

So they croaked and they splashed

Where the clear pools shine.

Over in the meadow

In a sly little den,

Lived a gray mother spider

And her little spiders, ten;

"Spin!" said the mother,

"We spin," said the ten,

So they spun lace webs

In their sly little den.

Over in the meadow

In the soft summer even,

Lived a mother fire-fly

And her little flies, eleven;

"Shine!" said the mother,

"We shine," said th' eleven,

So they shone like stars

In the soft summer even.

Over in the meadow

Where the men dig and delve,

Lived a wise mother ant,

And her little anties, twelve;

"Toil!" said the mother,

"We toil," said the twelve,

So they toiled and were wise,

Where the men dig and delve.

-- Katherine Floyd-Dana, aka Olive A. Wadsworth (1835-1886)

Happiness is a golf joke, in memory of Arnold Palmer who passed away today at age 87 in Pennsylvania

Jesus and Moses are golfing in heaven one day when they come to a par 3 hole with a very large water hazard surrounding it.

Moses plays it safe and picks a seven iron and lays up in front of the lake so that on his second shot he can easily chip onto the green.

Jesus can hardly believe it and picks a long club to go for the green. "Arnold Palmer would play a 3 wood," he says confidently. Moses disagrees and advises him to do as he has done. But Jesus says, "No, Arnold Palmer would play a 3 wood and go for the green, and so will I."

Jesus' tee shot is beautiful, but unfortunately comes up a little short and lands in the water.

Moses turns to him and says, "I told you so." And with that he walks down the fairway to the lake, parts the water, retrieves the ball, and returns it to Jesus at the tee.

"You'll be using a seven iron now, I imagine," says Moses.

"No", says Jesus. "Arnold Palmer would use the 3 wood and so will I".

Same as before, Jesus puts it in the water.

Disgusted, Moses starts down the fairway to retrieve the ball again, but Jesus stops him and says he'll do it himself.

Meanwhile play has advanced and a foursome freshly arrived in heaven comes up from behind ready to play the same hole. While Moses is apologizing for the delay, one of their party observes Jesus in the distance walking across the water and reaching in to retrieve his ball!

The guy can hardly believe his eyes and says to Moses, "Who does that guy think he is, Jesus Christ?"

And Moses turns, gives him that knowing look and says, "No, he thinks he's Arnold Palmer".