Poem for Thanksgiving Day

From The Recluse, Book One: Home at Grasmere
By William Wordsworth

This day is a thanksgiving, 'tis a day
Of glad emotion and deep quietness;
Not upon me alone hath been bestowed,
Me rich in many onward-looking thoughts,
The penetrating bliss; oh surely these
Have felt it, not the happy choirs of spring,
Her own peculiar family of love
That sport among green leaves, a blither train!

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Having visited Grasmere, this entire long poem really resonates for me, but I'm keeping the excerpt and everything else short since I know so many US people are traveling or dealing with relatives. I had a relatively quiet pre-Thanksgiving, which was what I wanted given that I want my cold to go away by the time I see my relatives tomorrow! I did venture out in the rain for lunch with because Mexican food clears the sinuses wonderfully and we yakked about fandom and music and stuff, then I dragged her into Target so I could get laundry supplies (forgot toilet paper, am hoping CVS is open tomorrow morning or we may have a problem!)

got sent home at about the same time the kids got out of school, so we went together to feed younger son's piano teacher's birds and cat which we volunteered to take care of while she is out of town, then we all went to pick up older son who failed to call and tell us that his bus was 45 minutes late. So it was nearly 5 p.m. when we got home to have dinner, after which we watched the Madonna concert on NBC. I must admit to adoring Madonna unreservedly in concert, no matter what madness she may get up to elsewhere. I'm sorry she didn't do "Like a Prayer" but we can't have everything, and she did do "Ray of Light" and "Like a Virgin." And breakdancing! Trust her to keep the 80s alive. I need to see if there's a way to burn my professional VHS copies of her music video collections to DVD.


The Chinese Pavilion at the National Arboretum, which hosts many of the bonsai; there is also a Japanese pavilion and a tropical greenhouse.


This Western Yellow Pine, trained since 1966, sits at the entrance to the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum on the arboretum grounds.


Some of the trees are accompanied by decorations like these debating scholars...


...this fisherman beneath a miniature tree...


...and this musician, perhaps an inch high.


This is another view of the Anacostia overlook. The leaves are long past peak but you get an idea of how pretty it is in the fall.

My husband sent me this article on Global Orgasm, an event we must not miss, with the query, "If enough people protest, will it be a mass debate?" which is one of my father's favorite bad jokes. Make love, not war, I say. Though we will be at my in-laws' which may require a certain amount of discretion. I think my pagan circle is celebrating the Solstice on the 17th, and both these joyous celebrations fall over Chanukah. *giggling* And on that note, have a lovely Thanksgiving everyone!