It’s going to be a day of grading tax exams for me, but a nice concert in Princeton is in store for later: A piano concerto of Mo’s, and Tchai’s Fifth, along with some modern piece. Richardson Auditorium is so beautiful, it’s a pleasure to sleep through a concert there.

This poem by Naomi Shihab Nye is from today’s Writer’s Almanac. It’s called “Prayer in My Boot.”

For the wind no one expected

For the boy who does not know the answer

For the graceful handle I found in a field
attached to nothing
pray it is universally applicable

For our tracks which disappear
the moment we leave them

For the face peering through the cafe window
as we sip our soup

For cheerful American classrooms sparkling
with crisp colored alphabets
happy cat posters
the cage of the guinea pig
the dog with division flying out of his tail
and the classrooms of our cousins
on the other side of the earth
how solemn they are
how gray or green or plain
how there is nothing dangling
nothing striped or polka-dotted or cheery
no self-portraits or visions of cupids
and in these rooms the students raise their hands
and learn the stories of the world

For library books in alphabetical order
and family businesses that failed
and the house with the boarded windows
and the gap in the middle of a sentence
and the envelope we keep mailing ourselves

For every hopeful morning given and given
and every future rough edge
and every afternoon
turning over in its sleep

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Today’s puzzle was a bear, so I’m proud of myself for nailing it, eventually, doubly so since even Rex rated it challenging. The entire north was roped off by PHILLIS WHEATLEY, who not only is a Black poet from 1758, but she spells Phyllis wrongly. We were also expected to know that (1) OKRA comes from Igbo, a language I not only do not speak but have never heard of, (2) “Put on blast” is BASH, and (3) “Bill originating in Texas” is PECOS. I got right away that Bill was intended as a name rather than a law, but all I could think was “Is Bill Gates from Texas?” Plus, get this — crossing the second “I” in PHILLIS was “Swing-era bandleader _____ Cates.” WTF?!? Like anyone outside of his immediate family has heard of OPIE Cates. Gimme a break!

Phoebe Cates I’ve heard of, but that did me no good.

Actually, Andy Griffith heard of Opie Cates because Opie, his son on The Andy Griffith Show, was, in fact, named for Opie Cates. Cates was also the music director of a radio show that inspired the TV show Green Acres, of blessed memory.

Do you recognize this babe, below? It’s Elinor Donohue. She played Andy’s pharmacist girlfriend Ellie on the show the first season, but is better known for her role as the eldest daughter (Betty) on Father Knows Best. (How’s that for a fossilized title? For most teenagers today, it’s Father is an Embarrassing Moron.)

There were high hopes for her character on Andy Griffith. She originally came ahead of Don Knotts in the credits! But she bolted after the first season. She and Ron Howard are the only central cast members still living. She’s 86, has four kids, and has been married to her third hubby for over 30 years. She was married to #2 for 29 years and had all the kids with him. Hi Betty!

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Just got back from Princeton and will hit the sack shortly. Concert was good. Mozart’s Piano Concerto #24 (“The Willie Mays”), and Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony. What’s nice about the Fifth is you don’t have to know the first four in order to follow it.

See you tomorrow.