Poem for Friday

The Guest House
By Jelaluddin Rumi
Translated by Coleman Barks

This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
As an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they're a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.

Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.

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It was a dim, rainy Thursday here, as what was left of Hurricane Fay dripped on us all morning and afternoon while Gustav and Hanna moved closer to the south. Perkypaduan came over and we went to the mall together to look at naughty Hot Topic Halloween accessories (not very many available yet, but the young cashier was definitely into Perkypaduan, heh), then to check out walking shoes and Bath & Body Works, and finally to grab some Japanese food to go. We came back to my house, ate teriyaki and watched Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, having decided that we were in the mood for Alan Rickman since I had just seen Bottle Shock and she was going to see it after leaving. Adam got home and announced that he needed a five subject notebook for science, so we picked up Daniel as he was walking home and went first to CVS, then to Giant, both of which were pretty wiped out of school supplies but we managed to track one down.


Here are some more photos from Yellowstone National Park last July.


Belgian Pool.


A marmot in the Upper Geyser Basin.


Giant Geyser across a field of wildflowers.


Yellowstone Falls.


Emerald Pool.


Bison near the Midway Geyser Basin.


A field near the Old Faithful Inn.

We had a political evening: watched Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert (the latter had Mike Huckabee on, whom I knew would get me fervently in the mood to listen to Obama), then took a break to watch Star Trek: The Next Generation's "Captain's Holiday" (which I need to review tomorrow, and which I enjoyed a lot more than I expected), then watched the DNC film about Obama before he came out to speak. Adam asked the all-important question, "Does he have a cat?" And though I know from the news that he's been looking for a dog for his daughters, I did not know the answer, and in the course of research (answer: he does not), I found Cats For Obama, which made us all smile. So did Obama's speech; I'm not sure he can put any of those tax or fuel plans in place without a strongly sympathetic Congress and I don't think he can stop a lot of the money-wasting to which even many Democrats have contributed, but he's so strongly positive, not only on things like equal pay and gay rights and ending poverty, but also on international relations and people in general. I love listening to Obama's passion for what I used to think the U.S. would always stand for.