America the beautiful

For something to remind you that regardless of the nincompoops running it, this country is awesomely beautiful... see Tonya's gorgeous photos from her recent around-the-country trip (be sure to read her expressive commentary):

Wyoming and Yellowstone
The Wild, Golden West

6:50:36 PM      trackback [] 

Tonight I'll be watching...

As of this minute, the vote on ESPN.com for what people will be watching tonight (self selected for sports, natch):

ALCS: Red Sox-Yankees   65.4%
NLCS: Astros-Cardinals   22.4%
Debate: Bush-Kerry   12.1%

Tonight I will have on the Fox Sports channel and/or one of the channels showing the debate -- one hand on the remote, the other on my glass of Guelbenzu Vierlas (a Spanish Basque regional wine) -- and if it's going badly on both of those channels (or I'm just too anxiety-ridden to watch) I may resort to the snarky comment boxes on Atrios' site or perhaps Daily Kos or perhaps I'll shut it all down and finish The Lovely Bones, which I am almost done with, and then read up on what happened later. We'll see...

Or, the latest New Yorker "Politics Issue" which arrived in the mail today.

6:23:22 PM      trackback [] 

Because it was cold here this morning

[Firewood, Keith Hill Rd., Grafton MA, Oct.1]

Firewood Makes Me Think of He-Men

Firewood makes me think of he-men

bearded, flannelled, shit-kicker booted

white breaths signaling up into brisk air

with every downward chop

with every weight brought down

then weight brought in

audible corporeal footfalls

as if a limber mobile oak itself

walked in tracking bits of bark

and pulp across my floor

displacing the delicate indoor air

replacing ascetic scent with smoky

decoctions of mushrooms

venison stew long-simmering

plus a perdurable thermal furnace

long-handled copper bed warmer

burrowing down burying me in

helping endure the long winter’s wait.

2:31:09 PM      trackback []