Cherry Bells Ringing

The photo at the top of the page shows Cherry Bells, which are blooming right now in my garden.

I have a pitcher full of them, and some red roses, on my bureau behind the statue of the Virgin Under the Earth  from Chartres.

This is the thirteenth day of my summer vacation. I wrote more in this blog when I was busy with school work. Where have these days gone - how have I spent them?  Many hours sleeping - a luxuriating sleep.  Other hours gardening; the garden looks much better; still many buckets of mulch to go, though.  Yesterday I baked all day - bread and sticky buns for the upcoming week at Cape May.

I spent many hours reading Brave New World. My university is devising a new Core Curriculum; the Freshman Seminar course I have taught for thirteen years is being totally revamped.  The first text in the new course is Brave New World. I must have read this in high school , but have no memory of reading it.  Reading it this time is a disturbing experience.  I need to spend a whole post talking more about it.

I've been to several poetry readings: last night, at the Carroll County Arts Center in Westminster.
I ate dinner before it with my poet friends Katy, Marty, Gary and his wife, and Michael. Then we all trooped over to hear Laura Shovan and another poet whose name I don't remember  - read.

What else?  I ate dinner with Mary Steiner, a new friend and former student from 35 years ago, and that night I gave a poetry reading in Takoma Park - it was a lot of fun.

This entry sounds more like a calendar report.  I will try to write something more substantive soon.

nest cam update

This was taken three days ago, and the little hawks are much bigger today.  They lumber around the nest like drunken sailors... or like teenagers, whose arms ( wings) and feet have grown out of proportion to their bodies.  This website is a daily delight.

Some nests are empty, though. The university where I teach, Mt.St.Mary's, had graduation yesterday -
photos of my colleagues and some of the students I knew as freshman, who just graduated:

End of semester grading frenzy

Never finished the Poem-a day- project for April... sigh...

For the last week, I've been grading essays, reading journal entries, and now, final exams.
Hope to return to more faithful posting next week.

In the meantime, some photos of the wonderful Perigee Moon this past Saturday:

from Eileen Wise:

 from Russell Joseph Reynolds:

from Maureen Plant

from Inspired Resource

With a Song in My Heart...

I posted this one on Facebook the other day.  It is hilariously true!  My mother used to remark to me
"It's a shame you can't remember your schoolwork the way you can those silly song lyrics!"

I still have those song lyrics in my brain. Here are a few that immediately float to the surface:

1. To know,know, know him is to love,love,love him...
2. Macarthur Park is melting in the dark, all the sweet green icing flowing down...
3. Robin Hood, Robin Hood, riding through the glen...
4. When your heart's on fire, you must realize, smoke gets in your eyes
5. I'm leaving on a jet plane, don't know when I'll be back again...
6. So ferry across the Mersey, for this land's the place I love, and here I'll stay...
7. Sunshine came softly through my window today; could have stepped out easy, but she changed my way...
8. Oh yes, I'm the great pretender...
9. We'll sing in the sunshine, we'll laugh every day...
10. Country Roads, take me home to the place I belong...

What do these songs have in them , that they stay in my mind, so easy to retrieve?

There are many many more... songs we sang in Glee Club in grade school and high school... songs I sang in folk music groups... Church songs... Christmas carols... funny songs my mother sang to me before I even went to school... all those songs from my teenage years...