By Kimiko Hahn
After skimming the Sunday Times, Dad turned to the back of the magazine
and tore out the crossword puzzle for his mother in Wisconsin—
as routine as my calligraphy class on Saturdays, flute practice
exactly twenty minutes on school nights
and astringent twice daily. I loved the idea of puzzles
but never tried my hand as problem-solving rubbed up against rivalry—
red velvet cake, red velvet dress, trilling—
because nothing was never enough and yet
more than a small rectangular lawn and the pulsing marsh beyond.
A puzzle might've been escape enough. A maze—instead of crossword?
No, cross words were our puzzles, after all. Although my sister and I adored
jigsaw pieces. Five-hundred. A zoo, I think. Giraffes, absolutely.
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I have little to report besides work and chores, plus a few bunnies. Adam had his last day of the calculus symposium, then went to the pool with a friend; Daniel hung out at home with me, though he was mostly on his computer talking to his friends who live in it. Here is a review of Deep Space Nine's fourth season finale, "Broken Link", an episode that seems brilliant in retrospect but which I hated when it aired.
We had dinner with my parents (Chinese food, by Daniel's choice, and my mother tried a new veggie place which had excellent Kung Pao tofu). Then we came home and, since the Orioles and Nationals both seem to play better when I'm not watching (they both won, heh), I put on the Happy Feet movies one after another. Despite a lack of Hugh Jackman I think I like the second one better. Some Pittsburgh Zoo animals:
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