Greetings from the Cottage er Fenway

Quick post after extra-innings Red Sox victory over the Mariners at Fenway Park's Heated Rivalry night, which included game jerseys, exclusive drink cups currently selling for five times what we paid for them on eBay, author Rachel Reid throwing out the first pitch, and lots of awesome photo opportunities, plus all the usual joys of a Red Sox game (the Monster, enthusiastic fans even when losing, "Sweet Caroline" etc.). 

Before the game we went into Boston, rode the Swan Boats in Boston Public Garden, walked a bit past Boston Common, had a picnic on a bench in the park, then walked up Commonwealth Avenue to see the permanent statues and the temporary Great Elephant Migration display before we walked to Fenway Park and waited in line for over an hour with many delightful Heated Rivalry fans dressed for the occasion exchanging bracelets and cookies!

Greetings from the EcoTarium

I spent a lot of Monday in the garage doing things that included finding and unpacking the Doctor Seuss books and other children's classics, giving away more boxes to the ex of someone else from freecycle who picked up boxes -- they're moving into separate apartments, so they both need to pack -- realizing we have comic book series we thought we gave away, and consolidating son's artwork in one box so I could collapse the others. I still can't find my Lord of the Rings playing cards anywhere -- I packed them away too safely! 

We took a walk in the chilly neighborhood when Paul got home, saw several bunnies, made room for the Oxford English Dictionary and kids' books by moving some collectibles upstairs, rushed through some computer work, and eventually ate dinner. Now we're watching the men's NCAA basketball championship (rooting for Michigan for Big 10 pride and my nieces). From the EcoTarium's Secret World of Elephants exhibit, at which I learned how much water elephants drink in a day and that the National Zoo's Kandula used a tool to get to a treat:

Poem for Friday and History Museum Ships

The Witch 

By Jack Prelutsky 

She comes by night, in fearsome flight,

In garments black as pitch,

the queen of doom upon her broom,

the wild and wicked witch,

a crackling crone with brittle bones

and dessicated limbs,

two evil eyes with warts and sties

and bags about the rims,

a dangling nose, ten twisted toes

and fold of shriveled skin,

cracked and chipped and crackled lips

that frame a toothless grin.

She hurtles by, she sweeps the sky

and hurls a piercing screech.

As she swoops past, a spell is cast

on all her curses reach.

Take care to hide when the wild witch rides

to shriek her evil spell.

What she may do with a word or two

is much too grim to tell.

-------- 

After a lot of rain this week, Friday was a beautiful day. Unfortunately I had to go have a bunch of fasting blood tests in the morning, never my favorite way to start a day, but I sent Paul to Blazing Bagels after dropping me off at the lab, so then we came home and had fresh bagels for lunch. I had laundry to fold in the afternoon, and we also walked to the beach, though the sun is setting so early now that the clocks went back that we didn't get much sun. We came home and had loaded baked potatoes for dinner, which is one of my favorite chilly-evening foods. 

Cheryl and I had plans to watch The Fantastic Four: First Steps together after dinner now that it's on Disney, which was lots of fun. Afterward Paul and I put on Materialists, which was a better movie than I was expecting -- Dakota Johnson was as good as Pedro Pascal and Chris Evans, which surprised me -- but it is neither a romance nor a comedy, and it's listed as both. Now we're watching the Wicked: One Wonderful Night concert, which is just a joy. These are models of early boats of the Pacific Northwest on display at the Burke Museum:

Poem for Tuesday and Folger First Editions

The Lady in 38 C 

By Lori Jakiela 

The Lady in 38 C

gets confused. She thinks I'm her nurse.

“Nurse!” she yells. “My finger!”

So I bring her a band-aid

and put it on even though she's fine.

“Oh thank you nurse!” she yells.

“You're a good one.”

She winks and smiles and the woman next to her

glares into her computer.

I think the old lady's charming.

She's 86, still pretty. Her eyes are blue.

Her hair is a cloud.

She looks exactly like what's outside.

She's the only air in this cabin, the only light.

“Nurse!” she yells, and I look back

over the sad heads, eggs in a carton,

faces pressed against

the mite-ridden blankets

and pillows they fought for,

and there she is, beaming.

“Nurse,” she says. “Where are we?”

I take her hand

and look out the window.

I scratch my head, smile

and say, “Somewhere

over Idunno.”

She's the only passenger

who's ever gotten that joke.

Up here, nearly everyone is miserable.

I count on small joys to get by.

The woman in 38C says, “Oh, Nurse!”

and the woman next to her

who probably thinks we're somewhere

over Idaho, that wonderland of Hemingway

and golden potatoes,

rolls her eyes and bangs the computer keys

until the seatbelt sign goes on

and the captain says,

“We'll be experiencing weather.”

which is what people say

instead of scary things like storm and turbulence

and pretty soon the plane is bouncing

and the woman with the computer

grips her armrest

while the old lady throws her arms up

like she's on a roller coaster and yells,

“They should charge extra for this!”

-------- 

My Tuesday morning was about unpacking, laundry, organizing stuff, catching up on correspondence, etc. It was foggy when we woke up but turned sunny before we walked to the park, where the sandy beach and the stretch of grass and trees surrounding the play equipment was closed to the public, even the bridges over the stream to reach that part, because of all the fallen trees and still-precarious branches. 

I came home to watch the atrocious "Human Error" with my Voyager group to much scorn, after which Cheryl  and I watched Star Wars: Skeleton Crew together -- great so far -- while Paul and I ate dinner. Then we caught up on Silo and Dune: Prophecy, both of which are very well done and enjoyable. Here are some of the rare items we saw in the Folger Library collection, from Holinshed to Joyce to Tolkien to Milne:

 

Canterbury Tales printed by William Caxton, first Englishman to use a printing press to produce books, in 1477. 

 

1505 Haggadah printed in Constantinople on the first printing press outside Europe to use Hebrew movable type. 

 

Holinshed's Chronicles, 1577, one of Shakespeare's historical sources.

 

James Joyce's Ulysses, numbered and signed by the author, from the limited first printing by Sylvia Beach in Paris in 1922. 

 

Galley proofs of the first printing of The Lord of the Rings with Tolkien's corrections and notes; "and in the shadows bind them" becomes "and in the darkness bind them" here.

 

1957 galley proofs of Ian Fleming's Dr. No with the author's corrections.

 

First edition of Winnie-the-Pooh presented in 1926 by A.A. Milne to his son, the inspiration for Christopher Robin, "For Moonest Moon and Poohest Pooh."

Poem for Monday and Russborough Gardens

Our Holiday Shopping 

By Kenn Nesbitt 

Our parents went holiday shopping online.

They ordered the presents and thought it was fine.

But, then, they forgot to turn off the computer,

and that’s when the baby, who couldn’t be cuter,

decided to play with the keyboard awhile.

She climbed up and pushed a few keys with a smile.

She bought a new blanket, a book, and a binkie,

a bottle, some blocks, and a sled, and a Slinky.

She ordered a dozen new puzzles and balls,

plus hundreds of teddy bears, diapers, and dolls.

And when she was done clicking keys for the day,

she giggled and got down and waddled away.

The cat came along and walked over the keys

and ordered some cat toys and treatments for fleas.

Our puppy jumped up and bought toys he could chew,

plus sweaters, and leashes, and tennis balls too.

And, lastly, our hamster sat down on the mouse,

and clicked to have everything shipped to our house.

The presents arrived just a day or two later.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything greater!

The drivers arrived and, before they were gone,

left thousands of packages out on our lawn.

It’s all so exciting, and will be until

our parents receive their next credit card bill. 

-------- 

It rained most of Monday morning, when I was doing chores and working on the Ireland Shutterfly book. After lunch, we went to Bellevue to pick up a prescription and return something at Macy's, so we walked around in Bellevue Square a bit -- most stores already fully decked out for Christmas, though the center of the mall has a Thanksgiving display -- and got a Cinnabon to share because we've wanted one since we saw the cinnamon rolls at the Maltby cafe over the weekend. 

We watched the Dolphins-Rams game around dinner -- it might have been closer if the Rams had been able to hold onto the ball -- then we watched Holiday in the Wild, less because of the holiday than the wild, since we knew from the preview that the movie had elephants, which were adorable though it was corny and predictable. Now we're watching What We Do in the Shadows, which has evil shapeshifters in the Airbnb next door. Flowers from the gardens at Russborough House:

Quote for Wednesday and Dunluce Castle

Cair Paravel 

By C.S. Lewis 

The castle of Cair Paravel on its little hill towered up above them; before them were the sands, with rocks and little pools of salt water, and seaweed, and the smell of the sea and long miles of bluish-green waves breaking for ever and ever on the beach. And oh, the cry of the seagulls! Have you heard it? Can you remember? 

 -------- 

I had a very enjoyable Wednesday during which I accomplished exactly nothing! I chatted in the morning with my three high school friends, then ate lunch with Paul, then watched the last episode and a half of Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power with Kristen. Then Paul and I took a walk to the beach and I worked on my Pokemon Go Halloween research -- Morpekos! Spiritombs! 

Over dinner, I watched the final episodes of Derry Girls with Cheryl, after which we saw this week's awesome Agatha All Along together (I must have those Tarot cards, and a picture of Patti LuPone in Glinda the Good Witch's dress -- really all of them in the movie costumes). Then we watched this week's Barbie-themed Masked Singer! Dunluce Castle, one of C.S. Lewis's inspirations:

Poem for Tuesday and Fair Fowl

The Duck 

By Ogden Nash 

Behold the duck.

It does not cluck.

A cluck it lacks.

It quacks.

It is specially fond

Of a puddle or pond.

When it dines or sups,

It bottoms ups.

-------- 

Tuesday was a catch-up and chore day after the long weekend, which was fine because I really needed to get some laundry done. I didn't do anything exciting until after lunch, when someone decided to light a bunch of fireworks very loudly off the dock despite it being daytime. We walked to the beach in the afternoon, then my Voyager group got together to chat, though we didn't watch an episode because one person was visiting her family and another had family visiting her. 

Paul made arroz con (veggie) pollo with the leftover rice from our Indian food, which we ate while watching the end of the Orioles' glorious victory over the White Sox. The Yankees game had an even more exciting ending -- the Rangers hit a walk-off grand slam -- leaving the Os in sole possession of first place, though the Mariners yet again gave up a walk-off run and lost. Now we're watching the new episode of Only Murders in the Building. Duck races at the Evergreen State Fair:

Poem for Monday and Snoqualmie Bear

Furry Bear 

By A.A. Milne 

If I were a bear,

And a big bear too,

I shouldn't much care

If it froze or snew;

I shouldn't much mind

If it snowed or friz--

I'd be all fur-lined

With a coat like his!

For I'd have fur boots and a brown fur wrap,

And brown fur knickers and a big fur cap.

I'd have a fur muffle-ruff to cover my jaws.

And brown fur mittens on my big brown paws.

With a big brown furry-down up to my head,

I'd sleep all the winter in a big fur bed.

-------- 

I was having a good Monday until half an hour ago when my phone fell out of my pocket as I was carrying recycling down the steps and crashed on the concrete walkway below -- the screen is shattered and the back is cracked, so it is pretty unusable, and I'm going to Oregon this weekend and it would have been really nice to have a working phone with a decent camera. I got a lovely late anniversary gift, an egg chair swing, which is set up on the deck, which is now free of mud dauber wasps, which were building nests at the top until the maintenance company for our apartment complex knocked them down. 

Adam and Haley have arrived in New England and he got yet another day of birthday celebrations with her family. Meanwhile, we had gorgeous weather, high 60s and breezy, so I found excuses to walk to the mailbox and office. We saw ducks and otters in the evening after eagles and geese in the afternoon when we walked on the dock. In between, we watched most of the Deadpool red carpet premiere interviews, then most of the Mariners-Angels game, which started well but ended badly for Seattle. Here are photos I keep meaning to post of the bear we saw from the chair lift and Summit at Snoqualmie: