Monday, July 7, 2008

The Summer Cold

In the opening scene of the classic film, The Philadelphia Story, the divine Cary Grant cups his hand over the face of the equally divine Katharine Hepburn and unceremoniously pushes her to the ground. In a figurative sense, and minus the divinity of either Cary or Katharine, that is exactly what happened to me on Friday. I was pushed to the ground by that bane of the holiday months, the summer cold. Now to be sure, colds are nasty little fiends anytime, but it seems the summer ones are worst. The small comforts that are afforded one by the winter cold - the hot soups, the warm blankets, the fleecy robes - well, those just seem frightfully uncomfortable in the hot heat of a fourth of July weekend.
Unsuspecting, and with my guard down, I suppose, I quite suddenly noticed the tell-tale signs on Thursday night. The oh, so prophetic scratchy throat. Sure enough, by Friday, I had begun to feel as if there were little weights around my ankles and wrists along with invisible hands persistently pushing down on my shoulders, and there was no doubt as to what was in store for my next couple of days. Grateful that no serious
responsibilities lay whinging on my doorstep for the weekend, I decided to take the advice I would give to someone else, and rest. So, I donned my favorite pair of white cotton men’s pajamas, complete with my monogram on the pocket, I put my hair up, fluffed up my feather bed, and crawled between lavender scented sheets. With a vase full of gardenias on the bedside table, and Edward keeping solemn watch, and frequently dozing, by my side. For his part, the devoted Edward did not mind a couple of quiet days, it is too hot outside for his liking anyway.
I can report that there are certainly worse things than drifting hazily in and out of sleep for a day or so. And the prescription seems have worked like a charm, for I do feel so much better.


Thursday, July 3, 2008

"Let us at all times remember that all American citizens are brothers of a common country, and should dwell together in bonds of fraternal feeling."
Abraham Lincoln
Wednesday, July 2, 2008

When twilight drops her curtain down
And pins it with a star
Remember that you have a friend
Though she may wander far.
Lucy Maud Montgomery

Friendship

I spent this clear summer day at a photo shoot, in a quaintly picturesque little Southern town. The shoot took place in a perfectly preserved circa 1895 grade school, and one of my oldest friends was the talented photographer in charge. As she worked, I wandered through the beautiful old building, poking my head in rooms where only time separated me from the little students once sitting there. I thought of my own time as a little girl in school, a school not dissimilar to this one. Wide polished wood floors, high, high ceilings, gracefully tall open windows just made for staring through, lost in daydream.. Being in that setting, and being with my old friend, caused me to contemplate just how important these sort of touchstones are in one’s life. Places you can return to, and friends that you can be with, that remind you who you are. Who you really are. Deep down. When you spend time with a friend such as this, it is restorative. There is an ease of conversation emanating from a shared history, a finishing of each other’s sentences, comfortable companionable silences, and the salubrious joy of being understood without effort. That type of friendship, I’ve found, is harder when one get’s older. Perhaps we tend to grow a little more guarded with age. But if you are blessed, as I am, with an old friend, I wish you a clear summer day like mine and a chance to appreciate that friendship anew.

(And, in the spirit of new friendships, Edward and I received a very sweet award from the lovely lady at South Africa’s
Thatchwick Cottage. She tapped us both for the Arte Y Pico award and we are both honored. She has requested that we pass this award on to some of our friends and I have allowed Edward to made these selections. It does appears his choices have a bit of a theme.
Edward encourages you to visit his friends, Talulla at
Cupcakes at Home, Sunny and Celeste at A Bag of Olives,Tanner at Wonders Never Cease, Trudy at Just a Plane Ride Away, and Cooper at KatieDid.)