By Robert Bridges
The south-wind strengthens to a gale,
Across the moon the clouds fly fast,
The house is smitten as with a flail,
The chimney shudders to the blast.
On such a night, when Air has loosed
Its guardian grasp on blood and brain,
Old terrors then of god or ghost
Creep from their caves to life again;
And Reason kens he herits in
A haunted house. Tenants unknown
Assert their squalid lease of sin
With earlier title than his own.
Unbodied presences, the pack'd
Pollution and remorse of Time,
Slipp'd from oblivion reënact
The horrors of unhouseld crime.
Some men would quell the thing with prayer
Whose sightless footsteps pad the floor,
Whose fearful trespass mounts the stair
Or burts the lock'd forbidden door.
Some have seen corpses long interr'd
Escape from hallowing control,
Pale charnel forms—nay ev'n have heard
The shrilling of a troubled soul,
That wanders till the dawn hath cross'd
The dolorous dark, or Earth hath wound
Closer her storm-spredd cloke, and thrust
The baleful phantoms underground.
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I have no idea where Wednesday went -- I spent it entirely in the house and mostly in front of a computer, yet I feel like I got less done than on Tuesday when I spent the entire day eating, shopping, and watching movies. I looked up a whole bunch of Kindle-related accessories and programs, and spent some time converting pdf and txt files with Calibre and Mobipocket just to see what kind of output I'd get -- I am confused why some docs convert fine while others won't convert at all -- does the Kindle read all docs? I can't tell from the PC version of the Kindle software. I'm holding off on buying books till I actually have the Kindle in my hands -- I am shamefully disappointed that there's not a eBook version of Richard Bach's Illusions.
But other than that and some organization and chatting with my kids and cleaning up various things that needed to be cleaned, particularly the heating vents, which were practically clogged with cat fur, I am not sure where all those hours went. Even the evening, which started late because Superpoke Pets started their holiday quest and made me late for dinner -- we all watched Next Gen's "Bloodlines" since I have to review it and it was as plodding as the first time around, then nothing till the frigid weather report with snow threatening. Here are some photos from the Countryside Artisans winter tour a couple of weekends ago when it was positively balmy:
A Paca Fun Farm has both Suri and Huacaya alpacas...
...more than 150 of them, though only a handful of the males are allowed to reproduce.
There are often adorable crias around and some of them will even let visitors pet their very soft necks.
We watched glassblowing at Art of Fire as this vase was made...
...and various other fused glass and jewelry-making.
There is a Jacob sheep with many horns at Dancing Leaf Farm...
...as well as several big fluffy white sheep...
...who provide the wool that is spun into this beautiful hand-dyed yarn.
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