By Mary Elizabeth Coleridge
I have walked a great while over the snow,
And I am not tall nor strong.
My clothes are wet, and my teeth are set,
And the way was hard and long.
I have wandered over the fruitful earth,
But I never came here before.
Oh, lift me over the threshold, and let me in at the door!
The cutting wind is a cruel foe.
I dare not stand in the blast.
My hands are stone, and my voice a groan,
And the worst of death is past.
I am but a little maiden still,
My little white feet are sore.
Oh, lift me over the threshold, and let me in at the door!
Her voice was the voice that women have,
Who plead for their heart's desire.
She came—she came—and the quivering flame
Sunk and died in the fire.
It never was lit again on my hearth
Since I hurried across the floor,
To lift her over the threshold, and let her in at the door.
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I had both kids home on Friday as well as Adam's girlfriend visiting most of the day, so it was a pretty quiet day of me trying to look industrious and failing to persuade them to let me take them clothes shopping (they both need clothes for my niece's Bat Mitzvah next month). The weather reports got worse as the day went on -- first a sleet warning, then a slow warning, and now we have about a quarter inch on the ground with threats of snow continuing on and off for most of Saturday -- so I didn't feel like driving anyway. I posted my review of Deep Space Nine's "Progress" and older son kept linking me to news about SOPA, the Supreme Court copyright decision, Microsoft demanding that the state of Washington legalize gay marriage, Gingrich poll numbers, Obama's support for birth control and various other political issues.
Adam and his girlfriend went out to dinner in downtown Rockville and the rest of us ate with my parents, since older son is headed back to college on Sunday (fabulous Greek food from Ambrosia). Then we came home, fed the cats, retrieved Adam, and watched The Life of Mammals: "Plant Predators" on PBS, which had adorable capibaras and dik-diks and pikas and bats and kangaroo mice. Now we are watching the news, which is forecasting too much snow for some of our preferences and not enough for others. Here are some more photos from the George Washington Masonic Memorial:
George Washington brought this chair from Mount Vernon to the tavern where his Masonic lodge met because he was too tall to fit comfortably into a tavern chair.
Statues of him abound in the Masonic Memorial, this bust paying tribute to his interests in shipping and naval power...
...and this statue in Masonic regalia to his role as the father of our country.
This gallery explores prominent Masons of the American Revolution and Civil War and shows Washington in a replica of his Masonic apron...
...a copy of the one he wore laying the cornerstone of the U.S. Capitol Building.
Another alcove bust showing Washington in front of the Capitol.
This clock stood at Washington's bedside at Mount Vernon. It was stopped at the moment of his death and remains at that time, having been brought to the lodge by Washington's doctor who was also a mason.
The gift shop sells mini Washingtons, Franklins, Louis Armstrongs, and other famous masons.
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