“She Was a Phantom of Delight”

She was a phantom of delight
When first she gleamed upon my sight;
A lovely Apparition, sent
To be a moment’s ornament;
Here eyes as stars of Twilight fair;
Like Twilight’s, too, her dusky hair;
But all things else about her drawn
From May-time and the cheerful Dawn;
A dancing Shape, an Image gay,
To haunt, to startle, and way-lay.

I saw her upon nearer view,
A Spirit, yet a Woman too!
Her household motions light and free,
And steps of virgin-liberty;
A countenance in which did meet
Sweet records, promises as sweet;
A Creature not too bright or good
For human nature’s daily food;
For transient sorrows, simple wiles,
Praise, blame, love, kisses, tears, and smiles.

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DEE SEM BURR!!!! It’s here. The last month of the year. 2013 you went by so fast! I’m hoping for lots of painting this month, and maybe some knitting, and hopefully lots of reading by the fire. There’s this annoying “Spare the Air” campaign here in Sacramento that prohibits burning when the air quality reaches a certain level of bad. What a drag! We have central heat but boy there’s nothing quite like a little fire burning in the fireplace to warm one’s soul and make the 5pm darkness appealing. Tomorrow we get to burn, which actually is today so I could right now walk out and start a little fire, but I’m so tired from staring at the computer for hours making this background and so sore from playing flag football two days ago that I think instead I’ll just crawl into bed. I might not even brush my teeth. Or maybe I just won’t floss. I heard somewhere that cavities have almost nothing to do with flossing or brushing and everything to do with the nutrients in your diet. If this is true I want all of those late-night moments back where I pried myself out of bed and groggily, unhappily, marched myself to the bathroom to care for my precious little teeth. Maybe it built character?

Ok here’s this month’s background:

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