Sunday night we went to the 114th’s annual dinner. last year we had dinner, fine, drinks, fine, but then, BUT THEN…the most boring speaker on the face of the earth. she started droning on and on AND ON about medical stuff in the civil war; i can’t remember exactly what she was saying only that I WAS GOING TO LOSE MY MIND IF I HAD TO SIT THERE ONE MINUTE LONGER.
i slunk away to the bathroom, where i spent a lot of time coming my hair, applying more lipstick, powder, etc. well, that’s all i could do because i don’t carry any other makeup stuff than that. so instead i sat outside the bathroom, texting a friend, listening for the thing to be over. she went on for a VERY long time, and i was thankful to have missed most of it.
the thing is, that dinner seems like ONLY YESTERDAY. so i wasn’t thrilled with the prospect of sitting through another lecture.
sunday night – dinner, fine (service was absurdly slow, though), drinks, good, and lecture – interesting! and brief! the woman this time is the curator for lincoln’s home; her name is Susan Haake, and we sat at the same table as her, so in talking to her i figured she wouldn’t be boring. not only was her lecture brief and interesting, but she brought stuff! she put on plastic gloves to handle them, and she talked about the different objects and walked around the room with them but we WERE NOT ALLOWED TO TOUCH! however, i did take a picture of lincoln’s portable writing desk. i only had my cell phone, so the photo isn’t that great, but i think you’ll get the idea.
they used to have the desk on display but they don’t any more; there’s a replica, instead. so how else would we ever have gotten to see it?
here’s what i found online about it:
Portable Writing Desk
1840 – 1860
Portable writing desk, hinged center, writing surface covered in purple silk, several compartments, one holds a glass inkwell.
Mr. Lincoln traveled a multi-county circuit with other lawyers and judges twice a year to handle legal cases in areas where there were no regular courts. He took this lapdesk with him in a saddlebag to write letters, legal briefs or political speeches. He later sold the desk to his second law partner.
here’s the official photo from the website:
a good time was had by all.
now, BACK TO THE BIRDS. I thought the sky looked interesting a week ago, last tuesday the 12th, after it had snowed.
the lone bird out there on the lake.
lots of snow.
because there was snow much snow, and it was so cold, i piled extra amounts of bird food outside.
the squirrels are always so busy up there in the trees and scurrying down to stuff bird food into their mouths.
sometimes there’s a variety of birds, and sometimes just one kind, like this collection of mostly mourning doves.
see the little bird on the pile of snow on the deck behind the doves? i shoveled a path so it would be easier to feed them, and the birds liked the big snow piles.
last night it rained, and now most of the snow is gone, but more is expected. and so it goes, in january…
ok then,
mrs. resigned to this miserable winter hughes.