Poem for Friday and Pre-Boo at the Zoo

The Oak
By Letitia Elizabeth Landon

. . . It is the last survivor of a race
Strong in their forest-pride when I was young.
I can remember when, for miles around,
In place of those smooth meadows and corn-fields,
There stood ten thousand tall and stately trees,
Such as had braved the winds of March, the bolt
Sent by the summer lightning, and the snow
Heaping for weeks their boughs. Even in the depth
Of hot July the glades were cool; the grass,
Yellow and parched elsewhere, grew long and fresh,
Shading wild strawberries and violets,
Or the lark's nest; and overhead the dove
Had her lone dwelling, paying for her home
With melancholy songs; and scarce a beech
Was there without a honeysuckle linked
Around, with its red tendrils and pink flowers;
Or girdled by a brier-rose, whose buds
Yield fragrant harvest for the honey-bee
There dwelt the last red deer, those antler’d kings . . .
But this is as dream,—the plough has pass’d
Where the stag bounded, and the day has looked
On the green twilight of the forest-trees.
This oak has no companion! . . . .

--------

I have had a really good but really full Thursday and I am now behind on absolutely everything! After a morning of getting work done and getting Madeline to school, I went downtown with Paul, who had half a day off, to the National Zoo to meet Annmarie and see the animals. The curators were setting up for Boo at the Zoo in a couple of weeks around Halloween, so we also got to see some of the decorations. Three of the four pandas were very active, as were the elephants, the sea lions, the orangutan with new baby, and most of the small mammals.















We ate lunch at the zoo and dropped Annmarie off at the Metro before heading out of the city to pick up Maddy from school and drive to College Park to meet Adam for dinner and bring him some paperwork. We went to the excellent Indian restaurant Rasoi on Baltimore Avenue  and shared vegetarian dishes. Then we drove home, dropped Maddy off at the mall so she could go to the movies with friends -- it was her only night off work this week -- and came home for this nail-biter of a Nationals-Dodgers game which has had many ups and downs and still has a lot of time left!