Thursday, February 25, 2010

Poem for Thursday and Hothouse Flowers

Nature Rarer Uses Yellow
By Emily Dickinson


Nature rarer uses yellow
Than another hue;
Saves she all of that for sunsets--
Prodigal of blue,

Spending scarlet like a woman,
Yellow she affords
Only scantly and selectly,
Like a lover's words.

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The big news around here is that 1) apparently we will not be having another snowpocalypse, since the weather forecast has changed to a half inch of snow overnight on our side of the state, and 2) Adam is getting his braces off in six weeks -- he had an orthodontist appointment in the afternoon, although it was a verrrry long appointment because they had to take x-rays (we were there for an hour and a half, during which I went to visit the Hallmark store and hair care store -- any recommendations for shampoo/conditioner for very curly but fragile increasingly middle-aged hair?). Adam will have to wear a retainer for the foreseeable future, but as he pointed out, a retainer can be removed for popcorn, gummi bears, etc. He was very responsible about using the case the last time he had a retainer, so this ought to be a nice change for him.

We watched Faces of America after dinner -- homemade pad thai and coconut curry -- which was yet again terrific. Gates explored Eva Longoria's family history, which is amazing, a third great-grandfather who was a citizen of five countries (Spain, Mexico, Texas, the Confederate States, and the United States) without ever leaving his Rio Grande town, on land he inherited from an ancestor who received a land grant from the King of Spain. He also tracked down a volume recording dozens of generations of Yo Yo Ma's family in China, reprinted in traditional style after the original was repaired. And he traced Meryl Streep's and Stephen Colbert's families to early Pennsylvania Dutch families, from which my mother-in-law is also descended on her mother's side. Daniel would be jazzed to learn that he was related to Colbert.

As for the Olympics, I loved watching the women's bobsled with the Canadian and US women going 1-2-3, and I felt really badly for Julia Mancuso -- I don't understand why they didn't give her more time before making her start over after Vonn's fall got her flagged off the course. And I am horrified by what happened at Sea World, though sadly not all that surprised; Adam didn't even want to see Shamu when we were there because orcas eat penguins, but Daniel insisted. If they're going to train killer whales, why do they not keep tranquilizer guns within easy reach of trainers during shows? More orchids from the US Botanic Garden:















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