Poem for Monday and Kings Dominion

Witch-Wife
By Edna St. Vincent Millay

She is neither pink nor pale,
    And she never will be all mine;
She learned her hands in a fairy-tale,
    And her mouth on a valentine.

She has more hair than she needs;
    In the sun 'tis a woe to me!
And her voice is a string of colored beads,
    Or steps leading into the sea.

She loves me all that she can,
    And her ways to my ways resign;
But she was not made for any man,
    And she never will be all mine.

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We spent nearly all of Sunday at Kings Dominion with Adam and his friend Daniel Wigle, a trip we had promised them before Adam's birthday in July but couldn't make work for any weekend in the summer or early fall. That worked out well, because we couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day -- mid-50s, not a cloud in the sky, red-gold leaves still on the trees all around the park -- and until late afternoon, when people started to arrive for the Halloween-themed Haunt activities, it wasn't crowded at all, meaning the lines for the rides were quite short. Adam's priority was roller coasters; they went on Flight of Fear, Intimidator, Volcano, Dominator, Shockwave, Avalanche, and the classic from my youth, the Rebel Yell, plus a bunch of flying rides. We "old people" stuck to the ferris wheel and were passengers on the Blue Ridge Tollway (on which we sat in the back of a car driven by Daniel W, since driving is the one thing we can do that he can't).

We all shared a pizza for lunch, had some cotton candy and drinks late in the afternoon, went up the 1/3-scale Eiffel Tower together, and looked at the Halloween decorations that were all around the park (tombstones, "bloody corpses" and skeletons, ravens, etc.). I played a couple of rounds of skee-ball, winning a pair of small rubber sea turtles, and left shortly after Adam tossed a quarter onto a dish and won a four-foot stuffed whale, which pleased him greatly. The food in the park is ridiculously expensive, so instead of staying for dinner, we stopped in Fredericksburg at Carlos O'Kelly's for enchiladas, which were yummy. Then we came home and Paul and I watched Case Histories, which continued to be fairly depressing but really well acted. I will not mention the embarrassment that was the Redskins game, which we followed on Sportacular -- frankly I'm more annoyed that the Cowboys didn't manage to beat the Eagles. At least the Ravens won!


Adam and Daniel W about to ride the Volcano, which belches fire when it isn't flipping people upside down...


...and sitting across from me on the Ferris Wheel as it rises above the Rebel Yell.


Here they are near the end of the Intimidator ride, which they went on twice (and apparently blacked out on).


The Halloween decorations include ghouls under the Eiffel Tower...


...and lots of graveyard imagery, most less cheesy than this!


There are also very tall pirates, even when it isn't a holiday.


And cotton candy in the usual pink and blue.


Adam won this whale at a Quarter Toss. Daniel W was envious but the cats are suspicious of it!