Poem for Friday and Boston History

From 'Boston' 

By Ralph Waldo Emerson 

O bounteous seas that never fail!

O day remembered yet!

O happy port that spied the sail

Which wafted Lafayette!

Pole-star of light in Europe’s night,

That never faltered from the right.

Kings shook with fear, old empires crave

The secret force to find

Which fired the little State to save

The rights of all mankind.

But right is might through all the world;

Province to province faithful clung,

Through good and ill the war-bolt hurled,

Till Freedom cheered and the joy-bells rung.

The sea returning day by day

Restores the world-wide mart;

So let each dweller on the Bay

Fold Boston in his heart,

Till these echoes be choked with snows,

Or over the town blue ocean flows.

-------- 

After an overcast morning with the eagles warbling to each other in the tree right over our deck, we had rain arrive in the afternoon, though not the wintery mix they told us to expect since the temperatures remained in the 40s. Daniel has some kind of cold/flu that we might have been exposed to when we saw him earlier in the week, so we decided not to trek to the park in the precipitation and instead went to Crossroads Bellevue to walk around. All the holiday items were 90% off at Trudy's Hallmark store, so now I have Blastoise and Baby Yoda, plus the adorable mini rollerskate ornaments, and spent less than $4. 

We stopped in QFC while we were in Crossroads for some veggie food and came home for Beyond Burgers. Afterward, we watched You Hurt My Feelings, which various friends and family members had recommended; Julia Louis-Dreyfus was playing a character pretty close to the character she plays in everything I've seen her in, and it has some funny moments, but ultimately I felt like I was watching yet another film about the woes of well-off, self-involved New Yorkers the screenplay didn't bother to make me care about. Then we watched this week's The Way Home. Famous Boston North End churches and houses: 

Lyrics for Thursday and First Flowers

Under the Bridge 

By Anthony Kiedis with Flea, John Frusciante, & Chad Smith 

Sometimes I feel like I don't have a partner

Sometimes I feel like my only friend

Is the city I live in, The City of Angels

Lonely as I am, together we cry

I drive on her streets 'cause she's my companion

I walk through her hills 'cause she knows who I am

She sees my good deeds and she kisses me windy

Well, I never worry, now that is a lie

I don't ever wanna feel like I did that day

Take me to the place I love, take me all the way

I don't ever wanna feel like I did that day

Take me to the place I love, take me all the way

It's hard to believe that there's nobody out there

It's hard to believe that I'm all alone

At least I have her love, the city she loves me

Lonely as I am, together we cry

I don't ever wanna feel like I did that day

Take me to the place I love, take me all the way

I don't ever wanna feel like I did that day

Take me to the place I love, take me all the way

Under the bridge downtown

Is where I drew some blood

Under the bridge downtown

I could not get enough

Under the bridge downtown

Forgot about my love

Under the bridge downtown

I gave my life away, yeah

Where I'll stay

-------- 

Distracted as I type this because we're watching FireAid, the concert to raise money for L.A., and OH WOW NIRVANA -- sorry, I know it's about the people affected by the fire not the musicians, but it has been a joy to see Gwen Stefani reunite with No Doubt, to hear Stills and Nash sing "Teach Your Children", to be reminded that Stevie Nicks exemplified Renfaire Goth before either goth or Renaissance faires were really a thing, and lots of other nostalgic pleasures amidst reports on the terrible devastation for the people of southern California (and the animals, as they reminded us). 

Apart from the awful news about the National Airport plane-helicopter crash, my day was good: I saw the neuro-ophthalmologist at Evergreen Hospital, who said that my visual field and OCT exams were fine and I don't need an MRI (she thinks my astigmatism was causing the distortion my ophthalmologist was seeing that concerned him), and Paul brought me hot chocolate from the Starbucks where he worked while I was getting my eyes dilated. We had leftover pizza for dinner after my Thursday night chat group. The earliest flowers are blooming at Bellevue Botanical Garden:

Poem for Wednesday and Playful Penguins

Old Dr. Valentine To His Son 

By Ogden Nash 

Your hopeless patients will live, 

Your healthy patients will die. 

I have only this word to give: 

Wonder, and find out why 

-------- 

I had a very fun Wednesday, starting with chat with all of my high school friends though Linda had to go before Hildy arrived, all a delightful conversation except when politics came up and then we all mourned together. Afterward, we watched the first episode of Paradise over lunch because a bunch of people had told me it was great, then I watched the last two episodes of Loki with Kristen and Laurie. 

We took a walk to the park to see eagles and waterfowl, who are starting to pair off. Then we ate Chinese food for the Lunar New Year, and watched the other two episodes of Paradise currently available; it's quite enjoyable and mostly well-acted. Now we're watching another episode of House. The penguins at the New England Aquarium get to chase fish made of light and directed by visitors: 

Poem for Tuesday and Ballard Birds

To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time 

By Robert Herrick 

Gather ye rose-buds while ye may,

Old Time is still a-flying;

And this same flower that smiles today

Tomorrow will be dying.

The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun,

The higher he’s a-getting,

The sooner will his race be run,

And nearer he’s to setting.

That age is best which is the first,

When youth and blood are warmer;

But being spent, the worse, and worst

Times still succeed the former.

Then be not coy, but use your time,

And while ye may, go marry;

For having lost but once your prime,

You may forever tarry.

-------- 

Tuesday was chilly and beautiful. I spent the morning scanning the photos, papers, and correspondence that have accumulated over the winter -- some medical stuff, but mostly holiday cards. Then we took an early walk to see all four eagles around the lake before I had my Voyager group, though two people couldn't come, so we ended up just chatting. We had fabulous homemade tomato pepper jack soup for dinner with crusty bread and cheese. 

Then we started watching House, which I've always avoided because I get hypochondriasis from TV shows (I have had all the symptoms of yellow fever, sickle cell anemia, even prostate cancer just from medical dramas), but Watson made me realize again I really would probably like. The first couple of episodes are a little dated but pretty great (poem above is in honor of Robert Sean Leonard, and yay Jennifer Morrison!). Birds at Ballard Locks on Sunday:

Poem for Monday and New England Aquarium

The Country Doctor 

By Will McKendree Carleton 

There's a gathering in the village, that has never been outdone

Since the soldiers took their muskets to the war of '61,

And a lot of lumber wagons near the church upon the hill,

And a crowd of country people, Sunday dressed and very still.

Now each window is preempted by a dozen heads or more,

Now the spacious pews are crowded from the pulpit to the door;

For with coverlet of blackness on his portly figure spread,

Lies the grim old country doctor, in a massive oaken bed,

Lies the fierce old country doctor,

Lies the kind old country doctor,

Whom the populace considered with a mingled love and dread.

Maybe half the congregation, now of great or little worth,

Found this watcher waiting for them, when they came upon the earth;

This undecorated soldier, of a hard, unequal strife,

Fought in many stubborn battles with the foes that sought their life.

In the nighttime or the daytime, he would rally brave and well,

Though the summer lark was fifing or the frozen lances fell;

Knowing, if he won the battle, they would praise their Maker's name,

Knowing, if he lost the battle, then the doctor was to blame.

'Twas the brave old virtuous doctor,

'Twas the good old faulty doctor,

'Twas the faithful country doctor-fighting stoutly all the same.

When so many pined in sickness he had stood so strongly by,

Half the people felt a notion that the doctor couldn't die;

They must slowly learn the lesson how to live from day to day,

And have somehow lost their bearings-now this landmark is away.

But perhaps it still is better that his busy life is done;

He has seen old views and patients disappearing, one by one;

He has learned that Death is master both of science and of art;

He has done his duty fairly and has acted out his part.

And the strong old country doctor,

And the weak old country doctor.

-------- 

Monday was a Monday -- gorgeous weather, but I spent the morning doing laundry and other Monday chores. We did get out in the afternoon -- pair of eagles at the park, dozens of waterfowl in the lake behind the apartment, lots of sunshine -- then we came home and saw the first episode of Watson, which wasn't fantastic but was good enough that I'll give it another week (feels pretty derivative but Morris Chestnut is good and Rochelle Aytes and Eve Harlow are both playing interesting characters). 

Paul made veggie croque monsieur for dinner -- fake chicken and ham -- then we watched The Wild Robot, which a lot of people told me they liked. It's quite good, also somewhat derivative if you've seen The Iron Giant and the Land Before Time movies, but it has lovely nature visuals and a very pro-community, anti-AI message, with a decent sense of humor and several very good voice actors. Here are some photos from underwater tanks at the New England Aquarium when we were in Boston:

Greetings from Green Lake

Quick post after a lovely evening at the home of Daniel and Cahaya, who made dinner for us and her parents (halibut, artichokes, turnips, beans), after an afternoon at the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks, then a stop at Scandinavian Specialties while we were in Ballard. We missed the Chiefs-Bills game, but after walking out of the terrible Commanders-Eagles game, that was just as well. Now we're watching this week's Sanctuary, having just finished Mayfair Witches -- some photos from today, more tomorrow.

Greetings from Bellevue

On Saturday the Bellevue Square mall kicked off its Lunar New Year festivities, so we went over there to see some of the performances and had lunch at the Cheesecake Factory, which was offering free peanut butter cheesecake slices to members of its rewards program for National Peanut Butter Day. (I had an Impossible Mac and Cheeseburger, which was very good, so it was not a low calorie day!) Later in the afternoon we went to the Bellevue Botanical Garden, where there were snowdrops, witch hazel, and a few other winter flowers, and we stopped on the way home at Whole Foods and Safeway, so we have provisions.

 

Neither of us was hungry for much dinner after eating that big lunch and dessert, so we snacked in between the last few episodes of the second season of The Night Agent, which got increasingly absurd -- though as I recall the first season did in later episodes as well -- but it has a lot of female characters who interact a lot with one another and make most of the good decisions despite the fact that the titular character is a man, so I forgive a lot. We put on Peacock's repeats of the US figure skating championships afterwards, but the stream was dragging so we're watching an episode of Midsomer Murders instead.