Melissa and Maya are away this week in Miami visiting with the Honduran/American sides of her family: parents, grandparents, family, list of girlfriends, Melissa's parents place in Broward. As I'm working, I was unable to take off but I have been able to catch up on a little night reading. Here's detail of a profile of the young Arthur Rimbaud by Henri Fantin-Latour, "
Un Coin de Table", 1872. Rimbaud's got that dreamy look in his eyes - young poet. This painting's kept at the Musee d'Orsay in Paris - I've never been but hope one day I will have the chance to visit - hopefully with Maya.
While Melissa and Maya have been away, I've had a chance to finish a book about Rimbaud, Henry Miller's
Time of the Assassins. Essentially, its a tribute. Miller's take on Rimbaud, what happened in Rimbaud's last 19 years after he left poetry at 18(!): gun runner, Abyssinia, mercenary, carrier of a belt of gold coins, dyssentry - man of the world. Its a fascinating take,
le monde moderne. It brought up memories when I was living in New York, a more bohemian lifestyle - NYU graduate student - the village. It also got me thinking about my daughter, her bright eyes, smiling face, morning, future possibilities and concerns. If one day Maya finds this entry when she's a little older, she might wonder why her old father read Miller's take on Rimbaud.
Here's a latin verse that's also haunted me this past week. The reference is not the mass but Miami bookstacks, mathematician's musings, themepark engineering, Stanislaus Ulam, his old friend John Von Neumann:
Judex ergo cum sedebit,
quid quid latet apparebit:
nil inultum remanebit.
Quid sum miser tunc dicturus?
Quem patronum rogaturus,
cum vix justus sit securus?
Semaphore into the future, Maya.
Yes, that is the Washington monument with our Blue Altima stage left. The Princess of Pensacola has officially made the move now to D.C. or close enough, Charles Town (George's Brother), West Virginia.
I wonder if daddy's going to have any fun in Washington. Those ducks on that frozen pond look pretty cold and what's that Washington monument all about anyways? Are we really leaving the beaches of Pensacola?
Evan and I check out our first frozen pond. As you can see, Ev, isn't overly happy about his new big red jacket even though that big white building in the background looks somewhat interesting.
Mama, contemplating her new Washington scarfy blouse and Charles Town sweater. This will take some getting used to for the girl from the tropics.
Well, we're all in the North East now, far from Gulf Coast breezes and hurricanes (!) but I suppose that's the life of the Princess of Pensacola!
