Yesterday was the Folger Shakespeare Library‘s celebration of Shakespeare’s birthday, an event I had attended for five years in a row now. It’s kind of my thing.

Unfortunately, it was pouring down rain this year, so all the outdoor events were moved inside.

This year, I invited our neighbor’s daughter (she is, as she explained, “11 and a half years old”) to come with me. Normally, this is kind of a solitary event for – I browse the exhibit, listen to a lecture, listen to a lot of music, and check out the books for sale. But with a child, it’s a little different, of course. More drawing portraits of Shakespeare, more taking lessons in sixteenth and seventeenth century courtly dancing, etc.

And, she got up in front of an audience and read a line of Shakespeare from a speech by Benedict from Much Ado About Nothing. That was pretty cool, I have to say. She wanted me to stand next to her and help out, but then while in line, she started talking to another girl, maybe a year or two older and they seemed to make fast friends, as kids are wont to do, so I quietly slipped away.

While I missed my usual stuff (not much sitting and quietly reading and writing while listening to a string quartet), it was great to see a child get their first real introduction to Shakespeare and this language.

Oh, and unlike last year, their scholarly periodicals were set out in the magazine room for me to browse through. It really bugged me last year that they put those away.