Poem for Wednesday

Pear Tree
By H.D.

Silver dust
lifted from the earth,
higher than my arms reach,
you have mounted,
O silver,
higher than my arms reach
you front us with great mass;

no flower ever opened
so staunch a white leaf,
no flower ever parted silver
from such rare silver;

O white pear,
your flower-tufts
thick on the branch
bring summer and ripe fruits
in their purple hearts.

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Chores, chores, chores, with only a small break for lunch with Gblvr and our kids at Bagel City...I was feeling deprived of good bagels after having been in Brooklyn without eating a single one. Had to get up early to go to the dentist because I thought I'd cracked a filling the other day; he couldn't see anything on the x-ray and said the tooth itself looked fine, so hopefully it will not cause trouble when we're in a campground somewhere remote! Picked up the minivan which now has new Toyota-approved door hinges after a recall on the old ones, stopped in the mall for body butter, went to Target for sunblock and socks, took the kids to Best Buy to get some Final Fantasy game we told them they could have for the drive, then took the kids to the pool, folded three laundries, burned some CDs, transferred some files...you see how exciting my day was. Here, have some Maryland Zoo photos, mostly from the Africa region.


A Demoiselle crane trying to beat the heat -- it was over 90 degrees by 10 a.m.


The warthog chooses the tried-and-true "lounge in the mud" approach.


Does anything faze vultures? They probably like extreme heat; it means someone will be dropping dead somewhere.


This saddle-billed stork heads for deep grass...


...as does this Addra gazelle.


Near the penguin colony, a pond full of tadpoles...


...are on their way to becoming frogs.

I'm not sure exactly what my internet or mobile phone connections will be like when we're in remoter locations on this trip, so I will be twittering when I can as littlereview. So feel free to friend or follow me wherever, or conversely to ignore me for the month of July as I will almost certainly be neglecting my friends list...apologies in advance! The itinerary starting Thursday is from here to Ohio to Wisconsin to Mitchell, South Dakota to Devil's Tower to Yellowstone to Paul's cousins in Boise to Paul's youngest brother in Salem to Yosemite to San Francisco to San Simeon to my uncle's family in Castaic to Paul's middle brother in L.A. to San Diego to Zion, Bryce, Canyonlands and Arches in Utah to Denver to Omaha to St. Louis to Indianapolis and back home!