Fall is here; the edges of the trees are turning orange, and we turned the heat on this morning for the first time this year. (And will turn it off again, as soon as I dig out all the sweaters and thick socks from the attic.) And so, all minds turn to the critical matter of Halloween.
We're tackling the great Halloween costume debate this weekend. M wants to make her own. Which I love in principle, except that her ambitions have been molded by the prefab costumes--the wenches with the laced bodices; the princesses with the hooped skirts--and they (her ambitions) are not remotely matched by my sewing skills or patience. Last year was a complete debacle; that wood nymph (my idea--an after-the-fact identity for the frothy confection of brown and gold gauze that was supposed to be a Great Lady) required a real leap of imagination, and that (in case you wonder) is bad. I forced her to wear it; I wouldn't spend the money on fabric AND spend on some prefab costume. It's this, I told her, or you can throw a sheet over your head and call it a day. And so here we are again, and she has no memory of last year's fun, and I'm determined not to spend more than today--this one day--dealing with the costume drama. And it's already 12:45.
L's ambitions are simple. L's going as a girl. I am so profoundly grateful, I can't even tell you.
I've had the strangest feeling all week; all week I've sensed that a friend of mine who died 15 years ago has been right next to me, or behind me. I could almost swear I smell his cologne. I've been trying to think what the subconscious issue is: it's not his birthday; not the anniversary of his death. Lying awake at 2am, I sensed him again. Turned on the radio to hear that OJ is finally going to jail, and realized that Jim died before the Bronco chase on the freeway. He died before the Berlin Wall went down. Man, he would've enjoyed these years. The letters we would've written!
Bought myself a bike. Envisioning myself moving fast--deep, clear breaths, strong muscles, every one of them a fat-burning maching. The world is my oyster.
1 comment:
I've been fighting the urge to vacuum out my furnace and get it ready because I know when I do I'll start running it on the cool mornings...
I envy you the colors I know you much be seeing right now; here we'll slip from green to rust to brown and gray...there's never enough red here!
Friends show up sometimes when we need them...or they need us...sometimes it's hard to know which!
I do know that if I needed one to count on I'd find you!
alan
Post a Comment