Category Archives: Everyday Life

Occasional Whimsey: Wedding Priestess Gets Wacky!

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Remember I said I felt as if I’d lost my whimsey. Well, I think these pants will speak to my hard-​​core, redis­cov­ered whim­sical diva. Saturday evening, I attacked a piece of fabric. these pants were the results. I was worried orig­i­nally about length… I was wrong! TONIGHT’S pants won’t have that problem (hope­fully) but they’ll be far more demure! (“exactly like the Wedding Priestess,” she says, coyly!)

Luckily, no seam­stress can see closely enough to see the oopsies! It makes a nice break from article writing. My girl­friend Jeanie who took these photos, said, didn’t you make a top from that fabric. 1) I promise never to wearthem together. 2) not everyone is as obser­vant as she is. 2) just think of me as your own indi­vidual von trapp family raiding the curtains. (and who coulda lived with these curtains!)

Tip: Always have a good time, except when you can’t!

Dee n me in front of Jean Weston's Fabulous Quilt (we're going to raffle it off!)

Ann n Dee in front of Jean Weston’s Fabu­lous Quilt. We’ll be raffling that off!

anndee3

Great Words from a Favorite Author on Reading Aloud

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Reading is perhaps my greatest joy. It has been my delight since I managed to to crack the rosetta stone of the alphabet.

But long before there was reading, there was being read to. Our parents read aloud to us, often the group of us for years. We gallumphed through Winnie the Pooh and wept through “The Year­ling” and “Ol Yeller.”

And they schooled us in reading aloud as well. And we all read. And we all read.

Barbara King­solver is a favorite. An old beau and I once read “High Tide in Tucson to one another. Steve and I read to one another (and push poetry at each other). It’s a wonder­fully inti­mate and comforting thing. In fact. Steve and I like it so much we’re working on reading children’s story with voice and drum.

My parents aged and stopped being able to read. Dad couldn’t see it. So i started reading. I chucked the mysteries for other things. We spent many months slowly working our way through “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle.” The day he died we were giggling about reading “Jesus for the Non-​​Religious” in a very reli­gious setting.

Mom doesn’t neces­sarily compre­hend it. But Winne the Pooh is an old friend with whom we visit from time to time.

Tip: So go read Verlyn Klingenborg’s essay in the NYTimes. and then turn off the tv, find a favorite book and read it to some friends.

Mom: Doing what we love to do together

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My Mom, Betty Evans, was a painter before macular degen­er­a­tion and alzheimers’ robbed her of her sight and her ability to trans­late her visions onto canvas. I miss her painting. Some­times I find her moving her hand purpose­fully through the air, imag­i­nary paint­brush in her hand. What, I wonder, is she painting? It would be amazing to know.

Most days what we do is eat together. Today, we’ll do that too. This will be a big day over at the home. It’s one of two or three days a year when everyone floods in to see their moms. Aller­gans run high as everyone totes in flowers.

My family never did a lot about holi­days. Most went by fairly unre­marked. There were presents at Christmas, but a fairly modest amount. Cards for birth­days, and that pretty much took care of it. And so today, I’ll be known as the daughter who doesn’t show up with flowers.

But I’ll show up. Twice. Once to feed her lunch and once to feed her dinner. Or is it dinner and supper? I still can’t remember. And she and I will smile and giggle. I’m incred­ibly lucky. Over at my house, every day is mother’s day. And I’d better take advan­tage. Because pretty soon in the not-​​to-​​distant future, no day will be.

So do some­thing today with your mom(s). Lots of women have moth­ered you through the years. Remember them and do some­thing fun with them. And don’t rule out doing some­thing fun with them at some other point. That’s all they want. Flowers are nice. Time? It’s price­less and limited.

What do you want from a Metaphor: #8

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The image you chose as a metaphor

8.    should support the wedding vows you are making.

You don’t need to have it in the vows, but the picture the image offers helps everyone to under­stand why you are offering those specific promises.

Your vows should be written from your strengths, values and talents. They should shore up those areas of your rela­tion­ship that are not perhaps inately your best talents. Your metaphor should help everyone envi­sion the work you are under­taking. It should be a talisman throughout the years to remind you of the work you are doing… and the joy you have in making these commitments.

Tip: The stronger the iden­ti­fi­ca­tion you can make with a metaphor, and the more frequently the image appears in your life, the more support it will offer your marriage. It will also remind your commu­nity to support you when­ever they see the image show up and they make the connec­tion to your promises to one another.

What do you want from a Metaphor: #7

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The image of a metaphor is strength­ened if

7. it is some­what common.

You want to rein­force the notion that love is ubiq­ui­tous and that your rela­tion­ship thrives in the every day. Marriage, after all is an every day activity. The metaphor you choose to illus­trate your love in your wedding cere­mony should be frequently encountered.

If some­thing is too exotic in your life, then your chances of encoun­tering it are slimmer. You loose the rein­force­ment that common activ­i­ties offer. So using an image that involves the life-​​cycle of a camel if you live in Rhode Island, even if it can be made glori­ously beau­tiful, is not going to provide the daily rein­force­ment that the tides of the sea or the changing of the seasons might.

Tip: Choose a metaphor to describe your rela­tion­ship that has value and frequency in your life. Then it can be some­thing more than poetic beauty, it can be a marital aid.