yesterday the hubs and I went a bit north. on a bus trip with our local heritage society. to Waco. you might think this an odd choice for a field trip. believe you me, I certainly did. but, it turns out, this city is a wealth of history. and beauty.
my favorite stop was a visit to the Armstrong Browning Library on the Baylor campus. in this unassuming structure is housed the largest collection of work by Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning. a testament to their talent. and their love. the building is adorned with 62 stained glass windows. most depicting scenes from their lyric poetry. many contain the image of a pomegranate - a symbol of love. there are mementos from their lives. congenial ornately hand-written letters from colleagues (including Charles Dickens). volumes of books. artwork-lined hallways. magnificent furniture from the Browning's own home. all totally accessible to the student population and the general public. treasures enough to fill the minds and hearts of generations.
all in all. a lovely day. oh let me count the ways. filled with discovery. and laughter. and friendship.
(an interesting point of conversation as we admired the letters was that the sad legacy of today's authors will be machine-printed emails and electronic kindle snapshots. perhaps equally brilliant in their work - but sorely lacking in their presentation.)
'my letters! all dead paper, mute and white! and yet they seem alive and quivering against my tremulous hands.'
Sunday, March 4, 2012
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