most quotable

This is my first photo ever on this blog. It is a rowan tree growing near my apartment. I particularly like it because it reminds me of one of the first poems my tutor here assigned me by Marina Tsvetaeva. Here is the first stanza.

Красною кистью
Рябина зажглась.
Падали листья.
Я родилась.

In a red cluster
The rowan tree blazed.
The leaves were falling,
I was born.

***

"Peace Corps Volunteers and Columbia are like Twizzlers®."
-Thomas McCloskey

The funny thing is, he's right. Even when returned volunteers apply for programs other than the teaching fellowship, they seem to get in. What can we surmise? Columbia likes do-gooders? So perhaps I should stop panicking.