Poem for Thursday

Mysticism
By Farid ud-Din Attar
Translated by Coleman Barks

The sun can only be seen by the light
of the sun. The more a man or woman knows,
the greater the bewilderment, the closer
to the sun the more dazzled, until a point
is reached where one no longer is.

A mystic knows without knowledge, without
intuition or information, without contemplation
or description or revelation. Mystics
are not themselves. They do not exist
in selves. They move as they are moved,
talk as words come, see with sight
that enters their eyes. I met a woman
once and asked her where love had led her.
"Fool, there's no destination to arrive at.
Loved one and lover and love are infinite."

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Pretty much my whole day that was not taken up with driving people to lessons (violin) and school activities (ice cream social) or having lunch with (California Pizza Kitchen) was spent trying to create a slide show of photos of my son's life for the Bar Mitzvah reception. Windows Movie Maker is cooperating but apparently does not recognize file creation dates, so instead of letting me put things in chronological order, it wants to alphabetize them. And I have not yet ascertained whether I will be able to burn the slide show to DVD when it's finished. Aigh! Do I punt and do it in PowerPoint (which I don't know how to use, but my son does)? Is there a way to use Photoshop Elements' organizer to do this with music?

I see that the Vatican has announced yet again that we are going to hell for reading Harry Potter. Am so relieved to have this guarantee that so many of my friends will be in Hell with me, even the ones who only read PG stuff! But graaar, ABC, don't make me boycott your network over a piece of crap 9/11 Republican-biased schlockudrama when Boston Legal is the only show whose season premiere I am dying to see. I need my chill-out entertainment. I do not need it on a network pandering to the Bush Administration!


The littlest meerkat plays with its sibling in the National Zoo's Small Mammal House


Later it tries to nurse while an audience watches.


Then it's the sibling's turn to try to get some nursing.


These are really extremely adorable critters.


A prairie dog sits up in the Small Mammal House, looking around at the people staring in through the glass.


Nearby, another digs in the outdoor enclosure.

My horoscope: You may not be sailing off into the sunset today, but at least you can start planning for it. Your emotions are taking on a somewhat reserved approach today and you might feel as if someone has suddenly put a damper on your fun. Take this as a sign to reorganize and plan. Sometimes it is important to restrict ourselves in order to learn the lessons of discipline and patience. Thursday we have our final rehearsal and have to drop off the hospitality bags at the hotel and the souvenir playing cards with the woman who made the centerpieces and things like that. Friday we need to be at Friday evening services and we are having dinner with our out of town friends. Don't expect anything coherent in here until Sunday, which doesn't mean that I may not post two-line declarations of hysteria in the middle!