I thought of this phrase all day yesterday, an unseasonably warm one. It popped into my head when I stepped out the door in the morning and when I was walking a trail in the afternoon. And then, in the evening, I met someone who had it tattooed on her wrist.

The message was clear. Carpe diem: seize the day. In the film “The Dead Poet’s Society” the teacher played by Robin Williams delivers it as a command. He shows his students photographs of their predecessors, then in their prime, but lost to war. “Food for worms now, boys,” he tells his wide-eyed students. “Carpe diem. Seize the day.” And so they do, with mixed results.

Today is a carpe diem day too, with temperatures in the 50s. The warmth may be fleeting. Make the most of it. Seize the day.

(A box of chocolates. Another way to seize the day.)