Poem for Thursday and Power Out

Hector the Collector
By Shel Silverstein

Hector the Collector
Collected bits of string,
Collected dolls with broken heads
And rusty bells that would not ring.
Bent-up nails and ice-cream sticks,
Twists of wires, worn-out tires,
Paper bags and broken bricks.
Old chipped vases, half shoelaces,
Gatlin' guns that wouldn't shoot,
Leaky boasts that wouldn't float
And stopped-up horns that wouldn't toot.
Butter knives that had no handles,
Copper keys that fit no locks
Rings that were too small for fingers,
Dried-up leaves and patched-up socks.
Worn-out belts that had no buckles,
'Lectric trains that had no tracks,
Airplane models, broken bottles,
Three-legged chairs and cups with cracks.
Hector the Collector
Loved these things with all his soul--
Loved them more then shining diamonds,
Loved them more then glistenin' gold.
Hector called to all the people,
"Come and share my treasure trunk!"
And all the silly sightless people
Came and looked ... and called it junk.

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I am typing this in the dark because a thunderstorm rolled through here around 8 p.m. and about a half hour afterward, our neighborhood's power went out for no apparent reason. There are no other outages in the area, but Pepco says it will be 1 a.m. before they can restore power to the 1200 or so houses affected. So we are not watching the critical Orioles-Red Sox game, nor Harry's Law, nor anything else, and we are doing only what minimal activity our laptop batteries will permit since it's difficult to read even on a Kindle by candlelight.

I had a fairly nice day otherwise -- my eyelid is still bothering me, but it now looks worse than it feels, since the swelling seems to be mostly on the surface which is hideous but means less pressure on the eye itself. So I got caught up on things in the morning. Adam had half a day of school and went to cross country practice before coming home for an early Rosh Hashanah dinner with my parents and a friend. I ate way too much -- salad, veggie matzoh ball soup, fake chicken, latkes, dessert -- and it appears that I will be going to bed early, since there's little else to do!


Here is a photo of the Pirates Den at the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire, since I am in a pirate mood.