Tuesday, December 04, 2012

Poem for Tuesday and Countryside Artisans

God's Grandeur
By Gerard Manley Hopkins

The world is charged with the grandeur of God.

   It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;
   It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil
Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod?
Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;
   And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared

      with toil;
   And wears man's smudge and shares man's smell:

      the soil
Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.

And for all this, nature is never spent;
   There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;
And though the last lights off the black West went
   Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs--
Because the Holy Ghost over the bent
   World broods with warm breast and with ah!

      bright wings.

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The weather on Monday was ridiculous -- 68 degrees according to my phone, though I wouldn't be surprised to learn that it hit 70. Obviously this required finding excuses to be outside, despite having work and laundry and stuff that was supposed to get done. The deer and bunnies were hiding, perhaps confused by the temperature, but the squirrels and birds were very excited, perhaps thinking spring was coming. The cats, at any rate, were very excited to have so many squirrels and birds visiting our deck.

In addition to walking, I got out to take Adam back to school after he came home to walk the neighbor's dog -- he has late tech all week -- and I went to the mall to get the camisoles I couldn't find anywhere last week on sale for $6 at Sears (I did not buy the big gator bracelet at Brighton, despite being tempted). Evening TV has been the Redskins-Giants game (YAY), followed by Jon Stewart saying he can't worry about a war on Christmas when there's a Flintstones Christmas special set millennia before the birth of Christ. Some more Countryside Artisans photos:


The sheep at Dancing Leaf Farm.


Glass at Art of Fire...


...and fairies by a guest artisan...


...and Dancing Pig Pottery, out in the shed.


The alpacas at A Paca Fun Farm...


...watched over by two dogs, one of whom is named Xena.


Felted critters at Sugarloaf Studio.


The entrance, with guardian hedgehog, to Tiewyan Artisans.

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