A painting, and a poem by Emily Dickinson. Happy Autumn Equinox, everyone.
The morns are meeker than they were,
The nuts are getting brown;
The berry’s cheek is plumper,
The rose is out of town.
The maple wears a gayer scarf,
The field a scarlet gown.
Lest I should be old-fashioned,
I’ll put a trinket on.
—Emily Dickinson
Megan
On the whole I’ve been impressed by the Democratic candidates’ eloquence and collective goals, and annoyed by debate moderators’ attempts to provoke them into pointless bickering. Here’s what I’m hoping will NOT happen Thursday night.
Kian
To kick off July, a poem by John Updike.
Bang-bang! Ka-boom!
We celebrate
Our national
Independence date,
The Fourth,
with Firecrackers and
The marching of
The Legion Band.
America:
It makes us think
Of hot dogs, fries,
and Coke to drink.
The shade is hot
The little ants
Are busy, but
Poor Fido pants
And Tabby dozes
In a pool
Of fur she sheds
To keep her cool.
—John Updike
Click to enlarge.
Connie
Went to hear the multi-talented Stacey Abrams talk about her new book, Lead from the Outside: How to Build Your Future and Make Real Change. I’d thought of her strictly as a politician and had had no idea of the range of her accomplishments (lawyer, business founder, romance novelist!). I’m hoping she’ll set those temporarily aside in favor of a race for the Senate…or beyond…
Nancy
If there is a YA child, neighbor, or friend in your life, here is a book for their gift list. At Politics and Prose Bookstore, author J. Albert Mann spoke with author Mary Quattlebaum about What Every Girl Should Know, Mann’s new historical novel featuring the adolescent Margaret Sanger (reminder: Sanger was an early advocate of birth control and women’s rights). Young Margaret sounds as spunky, tenacious, and funny as the author did herself during the discussion.
Greg
I’d heard for years about the town of Staunton, Virginia, and finally persuaded my reluctant husband to have a romantic getaway. Well, as romantic as it can be when you have the dog along. The focus of our visit was the American Shakespeare Center, at which we saw two plays, but the entire town is a jewel box of discoveries. Even more delightful, I’ll bet, on a fine spring day.
