By Emily Dickinson
A Bird came down the Walk—
He did not know I saw—
He bit an Angleworm in halves
And ate the fellow, raw,
And then he drank a Dew
From a convenient Grass—
And then hopped sidewise to the Wall
To let a Beetle pass—
He glanced with rapid eyes
That hurried all around—
They looked like frightened Beads, I thought—
He stirred his Velvet Head
Like one in danger, Cautious,
I offered him a Crumb
And he unrolled his feathers
And rowed him softer home—
Than Oars divide the Ocean,
Too silver for a seam—
Or Butterflies, off Banks of Noon
Leap, plashless as they swim.
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Paul's parents spent erev Rosh Hashanah at my parents' house after driving down from Pennsylvania, so on Thursday morning they came over for breakfast, which Paul made after doing a phone conference from home -- buckwheat pancakes, scrambled eggs with red and green pepper, bacon and sausage (turkey and veggie). We had a nice morning with them before they had to leave to head home for a meeting. In the afternoon, we took our kids and Adam's friend to Locust Grove nature center, where we visited the snakes and caterpillars inside before hiking around in Cabin John Park, where we saw fish in the creek, birds in the trees, and a little black ringneck snake slithering in the grass.
A golden finch enjoys the milkweed at Locust Grove.
This little snake wanted to get away from us as quickly as possible...
...but the bats in the bat box completely ignored us.
Adam and his friend Daniel posed under a huge old oak tree that survived this summer's storms, though we saw several that had fallen and been cut off the trails.
They also inspected this traditionally-made canoe and Daniel pretended to row it.
Paul skipped the stone causing the ripples in this photo.
Inside the nature center, we saw this fat monarch caterpillar, which will soon be a butterfly.
No, we didn't go to services, but look, my Superpoke penguin celebrated Rosh Hashanah all day!
It was a busy TV night -- first a terrible Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, the heavy-handed and poorly-thought-out "Force of Nature," then the new Nikita series. Of the latter I will say only that I wasn't bored, I was pleased to see Melinda Clarke, I've generally liked Maggie Q, and any show with four kick-ass women deserves my attention for long enough to see whether it can improve upon the fact that right now in terms of acting or characterization it doesn't hold a candle to the 1997 TV series or the original film (not the U.S. remake). I'll watch next week and see where it goes.
Van #2 is currently having its 90,000 mile tune-up -- no major crises, but several moderately expensive maintenance issues, and we won't have it back until tomorrow morning...not before noon, either, since our plumber is coming to explain why two of our toilets are leaking. I'm hoping these will be all the repairs necessary around here for a while. At least there will be no Koran-burning, Schwarzenegger doesn't have to defend Prop 8, and a judge has ruled Don't Ask, Don't Tell unconstitutional...
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