May 1, 1963. I get an A in an English exam. Who wrote: The Great Gatsby, It Can't Happen Here, Maggie: A Girl of the Streets, The Age of Innocence, O Pioneers!, Jennie Gerhardt (I didn't know) (still don't) (bet I can Google it :), Dodsworth, Ethan Frome, The Song of the Lark, An American Tragedy.

I still know the answers I knew then. I don't know the answers to the rest of theexam. Give the author of each of the following passages, the name of the poem, and why you think the passag was written by the author you named:

"The mill sky is alive. The fire breaks white and zigzag shot on a gun-metal gloaming. Man is a long time coming, Man will yet win, Brother may yet line up with brother." I would not guess Robert Frost today. I would not know to recognize "optimistic realisim."

Here's a good one: "Captain Hawk scourged clean the seas (Black is the gap below the plank) From the Great North Bank to the Caribbees (Donw by the marsh the hemp grows rank). Stephen Vincent Benet', from a poem entitled "The Hemp." Gotta Google that one, and send it on to the crowd at Hempfest Core Group.

I'm not drivng to Vancouver. I'm riding with Richard and Caroline. Coming home on the bus. Mowed the front lawn this morning - even the periwinkle bed. It will return. Next project - pick up sticks - in the tall backyard grass - then mow. Michael coming over tomorrow, volunteering to mow backyard.

Today's entry - a Christmas card from my best friend in high school. Five little cherubs in the choir. A Christmas wish for the past - happy memories; for the present - good fortune; for the future, peace on earth. So much for wishes. Except a few memories. :)

September 1962. He sends me a poem by Sara Teasdale. The one about waking in the night. Which I did, last night. I dreamed about him - about seeing him again, with his family - not HIS family - but his birth family - his father was there. None of them were too fond of me. I don't think he was either. I can't remember why I was there. But I had returned after a long time away. Things were confused.

I have a ticket from a friend to hear the Dalai Lama in Vancouver on Sunday. I can barely afford to drive to Nisqually, but I will drive to Vancouver. I can always sleep in the car on the way home - at a rest stop, that is. I hope. :)

A day in the army, 1962. Field Sanitation, Fire Prevention, Shots (in the arm, that is) (I think) weather orientation (knowing which way the wind blows, I suppose) and military justice (and other oxymorons). The parentheses are mine.

I keep forgetting to put in current stuff. Another Sunday at Nisqually. Easter Sunday at that. Born again Pagan that I am, all I wanted to do was sing Easter hymns. "Come Ye Faithful, Raise the Strain...of Triumphant Gladness..." was the one that kept coming to mind. It was just that kind of beautiful day. Luckily I ran into 4 other birders, very fun people, with whom I spent most of the day. Not only were they intelligent, kind and funny, they had a spotting scope. Which allowed me to see not only my first horned grebe, but also my first surf scoters, the surf being way too far away for my little binos to see, and the grebe being much too small at that great a distance. Much closer to hand, however, were two pairs of cinnamon teal. Yesterday was spent in recovery mode. You'd think I'd been out all night drinking and whooping it up. I slept until 10, and by 2, I couldn't keep my eyes open any more. Every arthritic joint in my body hurt (a hurts-to-move-day - reminiscent of my misspent youth). I went back to bed. Today - it's gorgeous, and I'm awake. I'm still in hymn-singing mode. Shoulda been in gospel choir. If onlyl I could sing.

The letter today is just another day in the army. He does well on tests, and they encourage him to consider OCS. He got an advance in pay of $10. He's considering flying home (to see me) instead of taking the train, and talks about Ozarka Airlines. I vaguely remember flying Ozark Air (was it called Ozarka?), back to Iowa for my great aunt's funeral, I think. It was my first flight. I remember eating peanuts. I remember the plane was small. I felt very sophisticated. I revisited my old school house, the one with the biggest swing set in the world, and discovered they had installed a much smaller one. Or had I grown? In some ways, perhaps.