By Xue Tao
Translated by Jeanne Larsen
When that chilly hue strikes clear
the single strand of mist,
a muffled trill slides
far away:
ten silken strings.
It comes, long-drawn, to pillows.
It tugs at hearts and thoughts.
It will not let
at midnight
those who sorrow sleep.
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Another by Larsen, the poet in the spotlight in Poet's Choice this week.
My poor big yellow cat had a very difficult Monday -- she had to get up early (after having been starved overnight) to be taken to the vet to have a tooth pulled. This required general anesthesia, intravenous fluids, and other things that made her very woeful -- plus she has to take antibiotics for the next week, which will undoubtedly make all of us woeful -- but her gums will be much better without a rotting tooth, and she is not complaining in the least about having to eat only wet food for the time being. (It was a beautiful night here, and it would have been wise to remember, while having a lengthy conversation with a cat that included the line, "Give me another 'nehhhhh' so I can see your teeth, Lady Mreepuss," that the neighbor might be out on her deck where she could overhear and burst out laughing.)
The Washington Folk Festival is held at Glen Echo Park, which began life in 1891 as a National Chautauqua Assembly, then become an amusement park. Here is the Chautauqua Tower, scheduled for renovation next year, as well as the recently restored Candy Corner building.
The trolley has not run for decades, but some of the tracks and this car are on display in the park, which is now an artist's colony that includes Adventure Theatre (where I had my first paying job, as a puppeteer and actor), a glassworks, a pottery, and many studios.
The facade of the Crystal Pool was recently repainted and shored up, but the area still requires hard hats and the nearest studio has been moved since the structure is no longer sound.
Classes are taught and crafts are produced and sold in several yurts that have replaced the roller coaster.
Here are some of the items made by students and teachers at Glen Echo Pottery.
The Dentzel Carousel, housed in the colorful building at left, is the only working piece of amusement park equipment (though the bumper cars, miniature golf tees, and other items from those days remain on display in various park buildings).
Though horticulture is not a primary focus of this park, it is home to Discovery Creek, an environmentally-focused children's museum and nature center, plus some lovely cultivated flowers.
The park is most easily reached by the high footbridge from the parking area across Minnehaha Creek. You can see the onetime trolley bridge.
My parents stopped by with cupcakes on their way home from New York, so that was dessert after we retrieved Rosie. Every time I looked at a news site on Monday, it was dominated by the missing French plane and Dick Cheney trying to divert attention from the Bush Administration's atrocious record on just about everything by saying he isn't opposed to gay marriage in the states where it's already legal. I couldn't go to the vigil for George Tiller because I needed to pick up the cat. In other news...I am sleepy and can't remember any other news.
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