By Wislawa Szymborska
Translated By Clare Cavanagh and Stanislaw Baranczak
They jumped from the burning floors—
one, two, a few more,
higher, lower.
The photograph halted them in life,
and now keeps them
above the earth toward the earth.
Each is still complete,
with a particular face
and blood well hidden.
There's enough time
for hair to come loose,
for keys and coins
to fall from pockets.
They’re still within the air's reach,
within the compass of places
that have just now opened.
I can do only two things for them—
describe this flight
and not add a last line.
--------
From The Poetry Foundation.
Adam had cross country practice early Saturday morning, then we drove out to Frederick County to the Boonesborough Days festival in Boonsboro, Maryland -- a craft fair with local food, antiques, and a town-wide yard sale in a big public park with a stream and playground equipment. I always enjoy looking at the jewelry, homemade Barbie clothes, hand-dipped candles, wood crafts, and paintings of local scenery, plus a local raptor rehabilitation group comes with several of their owls and hawks. The town itself is very scenic as well and it was a gorgeous day to be out walking.
Since we were up in the area, we went to the South Mountain Creamery to get buttermilk and cheese. Of course, we never visit the creamery without also going to see the animals -- many cows, free-range chickens, rabbits, piglets, plus a couple of goats this time in the calf barn (who appeared to believe that they too were cows). We had ice cream and played with the barn cats, then came home with our Marco's Not Yet Famous salsas to have with bean and cheese enchiladas.
A hawk and a great horned owl visit Boonesborough Days with Raptors Up Close.
Vendors offer everything from Maryland produce and plants to locally-made soaps, hand-ground cornmeal, and repurposed antique household goods.
The park has weapons honoring local soldiers from the American Revolution through the Vietnam War...
...which are as popular with young visitors as the large jungle gym and slides.
Personally, I prefer the Barbie clothes...
...and the bees, kept safely in their hive at Hagerstown Valley Apian Society booth.
Younger son made friends with a goat at South Mountain Creamery.
And I got my arm licked by a calf I was trying to pet.
Evening TV was Doctor Who. The Torchwood finale had put me in the mood to watch the Face of Boe episodes with the Tenth Doctor, and even though I made the horrifying discovery that there is something wrong with our (professional non-bootleg) disc containing "The Christmas Invasion" and "New Earth" appears to have been glued together incorrectly, there's some weird stain within the plastic coating and it won't play properly, I utterly enjoyed them...particularly Gridlock which is written and acted so well and actually earns its big emotional moments.
I won't even bother to rant about "The Girl Who Waited" -- the title really says it all, Amy will always be "the girl" because it's obvious these writers both dislike and fear grown women. Whatever enormous emotional life-altering things happen to Amy and Rory, they're all forgotten in later episodes except as self-referential jokes. There's no character growth or development, so if the writers want adorable bubbly Amy and adorable rock-steady Rory back next week, that's what we'll get, even if it's painful to watch. At least the Michigan-Notre Dame game lived up to its hype.
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