Poem for Tuesday, Civil War Encampment, Smash

England in 1819
By Percy Bysshe Shelley

An old, mad, blind, despised, and dying king,—
Princes, the dregs of their dull race, who flow
Through public scorn,—mud from a muddy spring,—
Rulers who neither see, nor feel, nor know,
But leech-like to their fainting country cling,
Till they drop, blind in blood, without a blow,—
A people starved and stabbed in the untilled field,—
An army, which liberticide and prey
Makes as a two-edged sword to all who wield
Golden and sanguine laws which tempt and slay;
Religion Christless, Godless—a book sealed;
A Senate,—Time's worst statute unrepealed,—
Are graves, from which a glorious Phantom may
Burst, to illumine our tempestous day.

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Monday was a gloomy, rainy day, though that didn't stop me from anything but getting to take a walk in the woods. was working from home because his car was in for maintenance. Our power went out a bit after 11 a.m. and PEPCO said it would be more than an hour to restore for the neighborhood, so we went to the Indian place in the mall for lunch, then went to pick up his car. The power came back on just as we got home, so we worked for several hours, then watched Jane Eyre which we needed to record again because our old disc wouldn't close.

Adam brought a friend home to study for the A.P. exam on Tuesday after walking home in the rain -- they were drenched. We had leftover veggie meatballs for dinner, watched Sunday's Once Upon a Time -- cheesy special effects but satisfying season finale -- then watched Smash, which I almost just called Glee which in fact it what it deserves as many of the characters remind me of Rachel Berry and I don't mean because they have great singing voices. Spoilers: I have no confidence that we've seen the last of Ellis even though he committed a felony, I don't understand why we're supposed to hate Jerry when everyone else cheats on their lovers (and Julia is probably pregnant because of course she was also too stupid to use protection), and I've lost all sympathy for Ivy, so I am not particularly excited for next season, particularly since NBC canceled the shows I really wanted to watch.

Here are photos of the 20th Maine Volunteer Infantry Unit, the Civil War reenactors who were demonstrating last weekend at Great Falls what Union soldiers ate, how they kept themselves entertained, what their tents were like, and how they practiced medicine: