I love this green-gold hosta with the purple-green ajuga foliage: a color juxtaposition that gives me pleasure every day.
The weather here continues on the cool side, in the 80s and low 90s. Today is bright and sunny, no apparent rain in the offing, so I'll need to water the vegetable garden at some point. Dora and I walked for about an hour this morning, then I talked to my mother on the phone, so at 11 a.m., I'm just now settling down and warming up for the day's work.
After yesterday's wool-tee/skirt combo, I had thought I might challenge myself to a half-week of merino tees + skirts, but no.
I've succumbed again to the siren song of the easy one-piece outfit, with the current Shoes Of Least Resistance: burgundy bamboo long-sleeved swing dress (secondhand) + blue EVA Birkenstocks, because there they were, my feet are happy in them, and I don't have to worry about what water will do to my shoes when I start spraying the hose over the garden.
My challenge today was to see how, again, a long-sleeved bamboo dress performs in heat. Granted, it's not that hot this week. Right now the temperature is hovering around 80F. But walking for an hour, briskly, in the sun: was I going to be miserable in long sleeves?
Answer: NO. I was amazingly comfortable, actually. Even in the sun, the soft, silky knit felt cool on my skin. I got a little sweaty, but the fabric dries fast. Although I bought this dress in the fall, thinking of it as a cold-weather piece --- I wore it on both Thanksgiving and Christmas --- it's a remarkably good summer dress as well. Sometimes I like having the extra sun coverage, as long as it doesn't make me hot, sweat-soaked, and miserable. This definitely did not leave me hot, sweat-soaked, and miserable.
It's also worth noting that bamboo rayon performs really well with only a little spandex --- the fiber ratio for these dresses, according to the labels, is 95% bamboo rayon/viscose to 5% spandex. And it's just so insanely soft. Again and again, I'm glad I chose these dresses as secondhand purchases at the end of last year. They've served me very well so far.
And I always feel good in burgundy, even when I'm grimacing totally self-consciously at the camera.
I might go for another shirt/skirt combo tomorrow --- I still have more merino tees I'd really like to wear. Or maybe I won't. Staaaaaaaaay tuned.
LATER:
A hot late-afternoon walk, still wearing the same dress. The sun was beating down, and I wasn't so cool, but then I don't think I would have felt cool no matter what I was wearing. Bamboo: still a win.
Had some potentially good news about another piece of fiction today. Can't share anything yet, but I hope I'll have news soon.
And now, back to these essays. Of my endorsement copy, due tomorrow, I have written the following: "In these lucid and penetrating essays, Andrew Frisardi ---" And that's it. So far. At least it's a start.