Poem for Wednesday

A Simile for Her Smile
By Richard Wilbur

Your smiling, or the hope, the thought of it,
Makes in my mind such pause and abrupt ease
As when the highway bridgegates fall,
Balking the hasty traffic, which must sit
On each side massed and staring, while
Deliberately the drawbridge starts to rise:

The horns are hushed, the oilsmoke rarefies,
Above the idling motors one can tell
The packet's smooth approach, the slip,
Slip of the silken river past the sides,
The ringing of clear bells, the dip
And slow cascading of the paddle wheel.

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You can thank for the poem. Am deep in migraine right now and cannot be coherent, must go to sleep. Younger son had a tooth removed -- it had abnormally large base for a baby tooth, required two shots of novacaine, he was crying -- most of today is better forgotten, but much of it is a blur now anyway. In positive news, it was warm again, though I suspect a front may be coming through to change that, hence the splitting headache. I read that a lot of people who suffer from migraines got them, all over the world, just before the earthquake that caused the tsunami and am slightly worried and wondering whether some higher power is trying to tell me to make another donation. I wish I could do something more concrete than just typing and clicking to forward cash -- no one has created a fic-for-donations site like , have they?

made me happy with this news via Murph's Place: "As many of you know, the San Diego Maritime Museum purchased SURPRISE (ROSE) last October. I learned recently that she goes off display this March. She will be dry-docked for a survey and refit. While the contract with the studio mandates that her paintwork be 'weathered' (like it was in the movie), her bottom gets cleaned and other maintenance performed. In fact, many small repairs are already underway. The goal is to have SURPRISE (ROSE) ready to sail by 2006. In fact, if all goes well, she will sail in November, for STAR OF INDIA’s 162nd 'birthday' sail." My fantasy is that the studio wants her "weathered" for a reason. But even if not, I am very glad they are restoring Surprise to sailing shape.

In other historical news, more Philadelphia:


Betsy Ross' house on Arch Street, where the first American flag was stitched.


The Bourse, Philly's original commodities exchange, now containing the food court where we had lunch. If you saw National Treasure you may remember this as the place where Diane Kruger ran to hide from the bad guys.


Elfreth's Alley -- the oldest residential street in the United States, existing in its present form since before there was a United States.


Franklin Court -- onetime site of Benjamin Franklin's house, now a museum.


Here one can see Franklin's printing press, which encouraged rebellion against the British...


...and his privy drain, well below current street level.


A costume from the Mummers Parade from years past. Each New Year's Day, the Mummers recreate a version of the Saturnalia with costumes, music and comedy -- a Philadelphia tradition since before the city's founding, the parade has been official since the early 1900s.

Coupla memes while you're back here since I saved them from earlier:


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Hunger Comfort Hygiene Energy Fun Social Bladder Room Love

Reach for the lasers with Antic's Sims-ulator!