Poem for Friday and Longwood Conservatory

We Are Surrounded By Significance
By John Gallagher

We are surrounded by significance.
Everything carries a trace, a sign of yet
something else, whether pointing back to a regret,
or ahead in knowing anticipation.
But nothing exists solely for itself.
So you had better get used to the idea,
since it can surprise you when a nephew
not seen since he was a toddler,
enters the room and brings to mind
your own brother who left one day
with the keys to your car
never to return

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I got up early for the Superpoke Pets item release (and the harp seals were sold out already), which was probably stupid because I'm still not quite feeling 100 percent after the flu shot -- well, actually by now I am really feeling fine, but that's after two days of very little activity and my legs feeling like something heavy ran into them. So except for Snow Daleks (which I looked up because of because we're supposed to get snow overnight and clearly we may need a project for Friday if there are any more school delays or cancellations). Daniel's winter concert is tomorrow night and we are supposed to attend with both my parents and Paul's parents, but obviously that is contingent on the weather cooperating.

Here are some photos from the Longwood Gardens Conservatory's children's garden, which is full of fountains, and dining hall, decorated for the season:

















Watched "Time's Arrow, Part Two" to review on Friday -- not Next Gen's finest hour, though reasonably entertaining -- then watched the horror of the BCS championship game till The Daily Show came on. I pretty much never root for Alabama, even against Oklahoma or Nebraska, unless they're competing against a team with some player I really can't stand (looking in the direction of Florida and Tim Tebow), and watching them dissect the poor baby freshman quarterback from Texas after Colt McCoy got injured was more than I could bear. It was a rough first half in general, lots of injuries -- what a relief to go watch Jon Stewart blast Obama over broken campaign promises instead!