Poem for Monday

In the Train
By James Thomson

As we rush, as we rush in the Train,
   The trees and the houses go wheeling back,
But the starry heavens above the plain
   Come flying on our track.

All the beautiful stars of the sky,
   The silver doves of the forest of Night,
Over the dull earth swarm and fly,
   Companions of our flight.

We will rush ever on without fear;
   Let the goal be far, the flight be fleet!
For we carry the Heavens with us, dear,
   While the Earth slips from our feet!

--------

I spent a wonderful afternoon at Union Station with DementorDelta (who graciously drove, and graciously did not clobber me when I got us lost in Anacostia), Spidermoth, Torino10154, and Venturous1, who arranged the gathering and brought us all presents -- mine were pirate-themed and there were caramels! We met at the Center Cafe, whose upper level overlooks Union Station's restored Grand Hall, where I had chicken panini and we discussed matters both fannish and mundane...all right, mostly fannish, though local places to visit and things to do with kids factored in, too. There was a little bird flying around and landing on the statues beneath the vast arching ceiling. When we finally got up three hours after arriving, we walked around the kiosks and shops of the gorgeous East Hall Gallery.


Daniel Burnham's stunning Beaux-Arts architecture has been meticulously maintained in Union Station's Grand Hall.


Looking toward the West Hall from the Grand Hall outside the Godiva shop.


This is the beautiful East Hall Gallery, where many of the kiosks sell jewelry and collectibles from around the world.


During the holidays, there's an enormous Norse-themed train display with trolls in the West Hall.


At this time of year, there is also plenty of joy about the upcoming inauguration.


Here is me with my new boyfriend, er, president, at one of the many patriotic tourist kiosks on the main level.


And we were lucky enough to see a gorgeous sunset out the front of the station in the direction of the Capitol Dome.

I told DementorDelta to drive home up Canal Road so we wouldn't get lost maneuvering around 395 again, and we saw a doe and stag eating grass at the side of the road -- she says it was Harry and Snape's Patronuses. *g* Paul made tacos for dinner and we watched the end of the Eagles-Vikings game (the Ravens won earlier, whoo). Then we watched the new Wallace and Gromit, "A Matter of Loaf and Death" -- definitely not my favorite, way too many fat woman jokes and a rather mean-spirited resolution, but it's always fun to watch Gromit be the silent brains behind the bumbling Wallace's operations, with all the ingenious machines and preposterous diversions of hazards. Then we watched The Greatest Game Ever Played on ESPN -- a 50th anniversary celebration of the Colts-Giants NFL championship game that invented modern day football coverage, with interviews with many players from then and now and lots of interesting Baltimore history.