Get thee glass eyes;

And like a scurvy politician, seem

To see the things thou dost not.

In Act IV, scene VI of Shakespeare’s King Lear, a little while after the breathtaking scene when Edgar, dressed like a peasant for disguise, pretends to lead his father Gloucester to the edge of a cliff at Dover where the distraught old man wants to jump.  If you know the story, you’ll remember that Gloucester’s eyes were gouged out by Cornwall, the husband of the very most evil of Lear’s two evil daughters... After the tired, sadly deceived old king discovers his old friend’s blindness, he says, “Get thee glass eyes; And like a scurvy politician, seem to see the things thou dost not.” 

I got today's pictures in an out-of-the-way corner of Balboa Park where fallen logs have been used to make the borders of a dirt road.  I went there after making calls as a volunteer at a phone bank urging people in Ohio and Wisconsin to vote.  I had politicians on my mind...