Poem for Tuesday and Washingtonian Goslings

A Thousand Martyrs I Have Made
By Aphra Behn

A thousand martyrs I have made,
   All sacrific'd to my desire;
A thousand beauties have betray'd,
   That languish in resistless fire.
The untam'd heart to hand I brought,
And fixed the wild and wandering thought.

I never vow'd nor sigh'd in vain
   But both, tho' false, were well receiv'd.
The fair are pleas'd to give us pain,
   And what they wish is soon believ'd.
And tho' I talk'd of wounds and smart,
Love's pleasures only touched my heart.

Alone the glory and the spoil
   I always laughing bore away;
The triumphs, without pain or toil,
   Without the hell, the heav'n of joy.
And while I thus at random rove
Despis'd the fools that whine for love.

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We had a bunch of chores we needed to get done on Memorial Day, so after sleeping late, catching up on uploading photos to Flickr, and having lunch, we went to a bunch of stores in Washingtonian Center, which was pretty crowded with people at the Kohl's and Target sales (we avoided those) but lovely around the lake, where only the playground had a lot of people. It was as gorgeous a day as the previous two this weekend, and to my delight we saw not only the goslings I'd spotted a few weeks ago, who are now in the awkward adolescent dinosaur phase, but a new Canada goose family with at least ten babies!



















The Orioles beat the Nationals, which I'm sure neither my parents nor my in-laws are happy about, but I am (for Father's Day we are going to see the Orioles-Red Sox game in Baltimore, where Adam and I may be the only Orioles fans in our group of 8). We had homemade pizza for dinner -- which I had nothing to do with making -- and ended up watching South Park because they were rerunning the one where Obama and McCain only ran for President so that no matter who won, they could steal the Hope Diamond with the help of British criminal genius Sarah Palin. Hope everyone had a relaxing Memorial Day!

Poem for Tuesday, Inauguration, Swain's Lock

The Gift Outright
By Robert Frost

The land was ours before we were the land's.
She was our land more than a hundred years
Before we were her people. She was ours
In Massachusetts, in Virginia.
But we were England's, still colonials,
Possessing what we still were unpossessed by,
Possessed by what we now no more possessed.
Something we were withholding made us weak.
Until we found out that it was ourselves
We were withholding from our land of living,
And forthwith found salvation in surrender.
Such as we were we gave ourselves outright
(The deed of gift was many deeds of war)
To the land vaguely realizing westward,
But still unstoried, artless, unenhanced,
Such as she was, such as she would become.

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I wasn't thrilled by the poem Richard Blanco wrote for Obama's inauguration -- the reference to the Sandy Hook shootings really threw me out of it, it felt both intrusively au courant and like people who have to bring up 9/11 every Fourth of July or the Holocaust every Passover -- so here's the poem Robert Frost recited at Kennedy's inauguration by JFK's request. We spent the morning watching the inaugural festivities, which I enjoyed, though perhaps not as much as Obama's first election; I thought his speech was wonderful, I'm delighted that he talked about both climate change and gay rights as top priorities, but I am never sure whether I am hearing Candidate Obama who will fight for things or President Obama who will insist that compromise works best even in the face of rampant obstructionism. As glad as I am that he won, I'm a bit cynical about what to hope for during a second term.

In the afternoon we went to Swain's Lock to take a walk, where we saw a belted kingfisher, several ducks, some Canada geese, some adorable coots a.k.a. Plub Ducks, and lots of sun on the Potomac River. We stopped to pick up some things Daniel needed to bring back to College Park with him, then came home for dinner before taking him to his dorm, where many of his friends have already returned. Then we came home and watched The Woman In Black, which we found at the Germantown Library last week when we stopped in there. I thought Daniel Radcliffe was fine in it but the story didn't really grab me; I'm not a horror fan because I scare easily but I didn't find this scary, the pace was too glacial, the exposition too heavy-handed, the supporting cast too wooden, and the ending is a giant WTF. Some pics from Swain's Lock, which I'd give more stars:

Poem for Inauguration Day, Meadowside, Ravens Win AFC

Oath
By Kevin Young

Last's a long
year of loss. Now winter
we hope

to rename early spring—
the cardinals keeping
watch through rain.

Though the cold
start your toes
& find your lonely bones

soon even those
can grow.
And tomorrow

this smidge of sun—
shine it down
into your mouth,

the fog of breath
rising, your right
hand raised! Lift

this lilting tongue.

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Written for President Obama's inauguration, courtesy Yahoo where you can hear it read aloud.

The weather on Sunday was almost ridiculously beautiful for January -- clear skies and temperatures in the 50s. Daniel was playing Skyrim in the morning and Adam went to take photos with a friend of his, but we warned them that we were not wasting such a gorgeous day, and after lunch we all went (friend included) to Meadowside Nature Center, where the nature center itself was closed but the trails to the ruins of Muncaster Mill were open. So we got to see the remains of the mill, a snake, several deer, and lots of sunshine on Rock Creek:

















Since it's Daniel's last weekend home before he returns to College Park, we had dinner with my parents, arriving just as the 49ers beat the Falcons and interrupting our meal to watch the Ravens play the Patriots. The game was still close when we left to come home, then Flacco picked up his game and Brady started throwing interceptions and Baltimore is going to the Super Bowl! The media is excited about a Harbaugh vs. Harbaugh coaching match-up; I am just happy that after so many injuries this season, the Ravens are going to New Orleans!

Poem for Friday and Autumn Arboretum

South
By Jack Gilbert

In the small towns along the river
nothing happens day after long day.
Summer weeks stalled forever,
and long marriages always the same.
Lives with only emergencies, births,
and fishing for excitement. Then a ship
comes out of the mist. Or comes around
the bend carefully one morning
in the rain, past the pines and shrubs.
Arrives on a hot fragrant night,
grandly, all lit up. Gone two days
later, leaving fury in its wake.

For Susan Crosby Lawrence Anderson

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I have been fighting with LiveJournal's scrapbook for the past half hour (for a change) so have run out of time to write anything, though look, I have successfully included photos below! Not much happened to me Thursday anyway: many hours on a holiday project that needs to be completed while I have a discount coupon to get it printed, many hours spent ordering cats off heating vents, not enough time outdoors but I did see nine deer and a bunny so at least what I did get was quality time. Facebook was still on the All-Politics Channel and I spent more time there than I should have.

I also made some jewelry out of $1 beads I bought at AC Moore yesterday and had a quality discussion with my son about the implication of Colorado legalizing pot (bottom line: he's still not going to college there). We watched this week's Beauty and the Beast, which I am still really loving even if it's a bit soapy -- I am not all that worried about Catherine's lack of girly time -- and Elementary, which had a great guest star nearly ruined for me because of how gratuitously they introduced him to us. Here at last some fall arboretum photos:


The National Capitol Columns, moved after these sandstone columns from the US Capitol were replaced by marble.


We went to visit the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum...


...where several of the bonsai, like this Japanese maple, were in autumn glory.


This trident maple, in training since 1916, had seasonal color...


...while this one, age unknown, had already lost all its leaves.


The sweet gum had the reddest leaves in the bonsai display.


Though it was quite chilly, there were still a variety of bees and yellow jackets on what flowers remained.


Here's another view of the National Capitol Columns, reflected in the fountain that hasn't been drained yet for the winter.

Poem for Thursday and Scott's Run Series

The Year's Awakening
By Thomas Hardy

How do you know that the pilgrim track
Along the belting zodiac
Swept by the sun in his seeming rounds
Is traced by now to the Fishes’ bounds
And into the Ram, when weeks of cloud
Have wrapt the sky in a clammy shroud,
And never as yet a tinct of spring
Has shown in the Earth’s apparelling;
     O vespering bird, how do you know,
          How do you know?

How do you know, deep underground,
Hid in your bed from sight and sound,
Without a turn in temperature,
With weather life can scarce endure,
That light has won a fraction’s strength,
And day put on some moments’ length,
Whereof in merest rote will come,
Weeks hence, mild airs that do not numb;
     O crocus root, how do you know,
          How do you know?

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It took me a long time to wake up on Wednesday -- after declaring that I was going to bed Tuesday night and not staying up into the wee hours for the election to be settled, I couldn't bear the suspense, and things only got more and more fantastic after midnight, as we learned that Obama had won Virginia and Maryland had legalized gay marriage and Romney was conceding before Florida tore into their provisional ballots -- but I was in a great mood all day despite being very sleepy. I went out to do a bit of shopping in case the snowstorm came this far south, which thankfully it has not, and everywhere I ran into people with wide grins talking about what a great night it was; in my county, at least, not just most of my friends but many random strangers were thrilled with the election results. I have only two major regrets (apart from the REALLY major regrets like the fact that climate change and capital punishment were not even discussed during the campaign): that California voted not to label GMO foods and that Michele Bachmann managed to win reelection.

The minor real life excitements of my day included discovering Sukhi's fantastic Indian vegan chili "chicken" at our new Fresh Market, finding lots of nice beads and charms at AC Moore's jewelry sale, and discovering that I had $14 in Hallmark coupons which I used to buy the Merida (from Brave) Christmas ornament which I will of course be using for something other than Christmas but she comes with her bow and arrow. Plus I got out to walk before the rain. In the evening after belatedly eating Guy Fawkes dinner and discussing Adam's schedule plans with him, we watched a public television special on Easter Island, then Nashville, a show where to my surprise the music is so good that soap opera storylines and occasional mediocre acting choices don't bother me. I still haven't really sorted through my National Arboretum photos from yesterday so here is this year's Scott's Run family photo, along with nearly a decade of previous photos:


Here are Paul, Daniel and Adam at Scott's Run.


Here is the 2011 version of the photo...


...and the 2010 version...


...and the 2009 version...


...and the 2008 version...


...and the 2007 version...


...and the 2006 version...


...and the 2005 version...


...and the 2004 version...


...and the 2003 version, in which I forgot to fix the settings so I got a blurry photo, but it inspired me to try to do it right the next year and then it became a point of comparison in terms of how tall everyone is.

Placeholder for The Day After Elections

I cannot remember an election night or an election season as draining as this one, not even the nightmare that was Bush-Gore (when the real nightmare was only just beginning right about now on election night). Our original plan for the day was to go to Calvert Cliffs, then swing by the University of Maryland on the way home to pick up Daniel so he could vote in our county where he's registered, but after looking at traffic maps and hearing from people who stood in line for two hours, we decided to stay closer to home and went to the National Arboretum instead. It was nearly empty, the bonsai were in autumn glory and the big trees were still surprisingly leafy and beautiful. I took photos, but I am too exhausted to post them tonight, so have a kitten from Catoctin Creek Farm during the Frederick Festival of the Farm:



We got our free CalTort tacos before taking older son back to school. I will not celebrate the presidential race results until Romney concedes and I'm sure there aren't going to be recounts or other shenanigans -- there reportedly were many shenanigans already (mostly by Republicans) at the polls in several states -- plus Virginia and Florida still have polls open in places because they ran out of ballots. Some things I an unequivocally happy about: victories by Elizabeth Warren, Tammy Baldwin, and Tim Kaine; Akin and Mourdock both discovering that being dismissive of women's rights is fatal at the polls; and my own senatorial and congressional races going (not unexpectedly) to Democrats Ben Cardin and John Delaney. Maryland's marriage equality measure is currently too close to call, so I am hoping to wake up and discover not only that Romney has conceded, but that Maryland has become the first state to vote as individuals to legalize gay marriage.

Poem for Tuesday and Sugarloaf Sunshine

Election Year
By Donald Revell

A jet of mere phantom
Is a brook, as the land around
Turns rocky and hollow.
Those airplane sounds
Are the drowning of bicyclists.
Leaping, a bridesmaid leaps.
You asked for my autobiography.
Imagine the greeny clicking sound
Of hummingbirds in a dry wood,
And there you’d have it. Other birds
Pour over the walls now.
I'd never suspected: every day,
Although the nation is done for,
I find new flowers.

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Adam had the day off Monday for a teachers' day -- it's the end of the first quarter; Paul worked from home in the morning and took the afternoon off so we could take Adam and Maddy to Sugarloaf Mountain to hike. The weather was gorgeous, warmer than the weekend, and since it was a weekday there were not a lot of people around, though apparently a hiker got injured and there were nearly a dozen rescue vehicles both at the base of the mountain and at one of the parking lots. If Hurricane Sandy hit Sugarloaf there was little evidence, unlike when Hurricane Isabel came through several years ago and blew down many trees. After hiking we drove to Point of Rocks because we had never seen the famous train station there.


A puppy we met near the west parking lot on Sugarloaf Mountain.


Younger son and his girlfriend posed near one of the overlooks.


Vultures circled high above the mountain.


Here I am at the summit...


...and Adam in one of the mini-caves just below the summit...


...and son and his girlfriend taking each other's pictures.


There are many evergreens near the Sugarloaf summit so even with lots of leaves down, there was plenty of color.


Here is Point of Rocks station, which we have seen previously only in gingerbread and in a Brunswick Railroad Museum display.

We were going to have veggie Lancashire hotpot for dinner in honor of Guy Fawkes Day, but Paul forgot to turn on the crock pot before we left, so instead we had tortellini. Then we watched the current week's Downton Abbey -- in some ways best one of the season, in others, well, let's just say how much I wish the female characters had been better written all year -- and Merlin -- in even more ways best one of the season, I could protest that they really should be giving Gwen more to do as well, but unlike the soapy love stories on the British imports which simply don't persuade me, the central one on Merlin (which of course does not involve Gwen) remains wonderful.

I will be so relieved when the election is over but I'm expecting challenges and recounts no matter what. You don't need me to remind you how important it is to vote and if you're still undecided about who to vote for for president, I can't even comprehend your thought process. But if you are a Maryland voter, let me reiterate the importance of supporting Question Six, which maintains the separation of church and state while allowing us to become the first state in the nation to advance civil rights not via our legislators or judges, but by a vote for fairness and equality by all the people of the state.