By Richard Aldington
I turn the page and read:
"I dream of silent verses where the rhyme
Glides noiseless as an oar."
The heavy musty air, the black desks,
The bent heads and the rustling noises
In the great dome
Vanish...
And
The sun hangs in the cobalt-blue sky,
The boat drifts over the lake shallows,
The fishes skim like umber shades through the undulating weeds,
The oleanders drop their rosy petals on the lawns,
And the swallows dive and swirl and whistle
About the cleft battlements of Can Grande's castle....
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I got to go lots of places and see lots of people on Saturday, plus we had gorgeous mid-50s weather and no traffic! I started with an early walk at Great Falls with my friend Louise, whom I haven't seen since high school though we've caught up some on Facebook in recent years; she was working in DC and staying with her parents, so wanted to get an early start to get back to her kids. I came home for lunch with my own kids and all of us went downtown to the Smithsonian's American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery, where we saw several exhibits (my particular interest were the War of 1812, Amelia Earhart, and Modern Poets, though my kids were not overly impressed with the latter in particular).
In the evening Paul and I went out to dinner with Sharkie and her hubby, Gblvr, and three other friends at the Cheesecake Factory. Two of them brought me holiday presents though I left my presents sitting at home in a bag by my computer. I had way too much pasta yet brought home enough for two more meals, plus I had half a piece of cheesecake. We missed 3/4 of the Ravens game but got home for the best part, during which Baltimore forced the game into overtime, then kicked a field goal to win. We are sorry Green Bay couldn't pull it together, but since I promised not to complain about any sports events in the wake of the election, I will keep my part of the bargain!
A foggy morning at Great Falls...
...did not bother the non-migrating Canada geese.
Photos are no longer permitted anywhere in the National Archives, where we went to see an exhibit on the Cuban Missile Crisis. This is one of the eagles on the roof.
The National Portrait Gallery's Kogod Courtyard was set up for Farm-to-Table Family Day.
But we went first to see the presidents...
...whom we had to walk through to see 1812: A Nation Emerges.
Here is a sewing machine from the American Art Museum's Inventing a Better Mousetrap: Patent Models from the Rothschild Collection.
Unsurprisingly, my personal favorite exhibit was One Life: Amelia Earhart.
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