Wednesday, October 27, 2021

Poem for Wednesday and Cathedral Gargoyles

The Cyclone
By James Whitcomb Riley

So lone I stood, the very trees seemed drawn
In conference with themselves.--Intense--intense
Seemed everything;--the summer splendor on
The sight,--magnificence!
A babe's life might not lighter fail and die
Than failed the sunlight--Though the hour was noon,
The palm of midnight might not lighter lie
Upon the brow of June.
With eyes upraised, I saw the underwings
Of swallows--gone the instant afterward--
While from the elms there came strange twitterings,
Stilled scarce ere they were heard.
The river seemed to shiver; and, far down
Its darkened length, I saw the sycamores
Lean inward closer, under the vast frown
That weighed above the shores.
Then was a roar, born of some awful burst!--
And one lay, shrieking, chattering, in my path--
Flung--he or I--out of some space accurst
As of Jehovah's wrath:
Nor barely had he wreaked his latest prayer,
Ere back the noon flashed o'er the ruin done,
And, o'er uprooted forests touseled there,
The birds sang in the sun.

-------- 

Tuesday was very windy, though I really can't complain given that I have relatives on both coasts dealing with the effects of bomb cyclones. I did a bunch of scanning from the zines I am going to send to Texas A&M's library special collection, then I did a bunch of sorting and packing. It turns out that the librarian I've been corresponding with about donating the zines has a graduate degree from the University of Maryland and is significantly involved in fandom, which is awesome. I wanted the zines in a good home! 

We took a walk in the chilly early evening, had a quick dinner, and I got onto my Voyager call but we decided to wait a week to watch "Future's End" so everyone could be there, so we just talked for two hours instead! Afterward, we looked at the Braves-Astros score and decided we'd rather catch up on What We Do in the Shadows (NOOOOOO) and some of the Fantasy Island reboot. This event was on my Facebook memories today so I figured I would share some National Cathedral Gargoyle Tour flashback photos: 

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