The Ridiculous and the Sublime

Patrons of the David and Joyce Milne Public Library in Williamstown were shocked and slightly disturbed yesterday morning to see an escaped lunatic dressed in outlandish attire prancing about the bookshelves in the company of about ten or fifteen children. The lunatic, who was tall and perhaps twenty years of age, with an unkempt reddish beard and brown curly hair (as far as could be seen under his fluffy red hat and its trailing blue feather) was piping a tuneful and plaintive ditty on his recorder and acting in general as if whatever little dignity he may once have possessed had fled in shame long ago. In fact, as you may have guessed, this bizarre character was none other than the Pied Piper of Hamelin, sprung to life from the pages of the children's book of the same name. Any resemblance borne by this character to a certain yours truly I leave to the idle speculations of my readers.

The latest from Diane via my mother:

I went to the post office yesterday and left Diane in the car with Felicity. When I came out she made a point of telling me that she didn't cry while I was in there. So I said, You are really growing up." And she said, "Yes, soon I will be a belly-button flower."

And in her own words: "ut6u8phytujhyiuyhblijl yuh,bjg.lgl.y tkg.lot g.ik5g.ki t655.irv e.p5r 4. ;5.p45ol. 6596yto;i 56n6 p i 6 bp xp65xxxxpx56 xpi95e606yh"