Quiet morning living room, with the sofa cushions all tumbled. My husband likes to get up in the night to pray and watch the wee-hours goings-on in our neighborhood.
A nice dinner last night on the porch with the Viking Son --- the Artgirl had closing shift at the coffee shop. We had fusilli with fire-roasted tomatoes (a fancy way of saying "tomatoes out of a can"), basil from the garden (as well as a drizzle of basil-infused olive oil), and garlic, tossed with some cannelini beans for a little protein, with fresh green peas on the side. As much as I love the coziness of winter soups, I do also love light summer suppers. I'd made another round of tea, too --- mint, peppermint, and bee balm --- which the Viking particularly enjoyed.
I think I might make some skillet chicken and mango tonight . . . I actually have a couple of little peppers in the garden that could be picked already.
Otherwise, it's another day of much-the-same-as-always. I managed two essays yesterday (which I think finished off a week for me), and if I write two more today, that'll be almost another week done. Finished and sent off a poem to Autumn Sky Poetry Daily, which I really like as a quick-publishing venue. It's easy and (mostly) gratifying: you send a single poem, and either it does appear a week from the day you sent it, or it doesn't. I've sent out very little work in the last year; this kind of process is about what it takes to prod me to action.
Going to wash my Day 4 hair, trying out the other, less oil-ful Head and Shoulders sulfate-free shampoo this time, and maybe use less styling product on my hair right out of the bath. STAY TUNED for important developments.
. . .
Wearing today, with my wet hair (shampoo+tiny bit of rinse-out conditioner for slip+tiny squidge of Treluxe Reflex Serum raked and brushed in, then scrunched):
Miss Maggie T, in a first June outing, with thrifted Birk Balis, which have been in my backpack for the last week. I'm still torn about not taking them to Norway, but I really think they'd either not get worn, or get soaked a lot in the rain.
I'm really still debating about including this Maggie in my packing, too. I love her so much: the color, the swing, everything. She'd go with literally everything in my capsule --- of which here again is a photo of the current iteration:
It's all blues, teals, and greens, with that one pop of red for fun. The only thing about this Maggie dress is that she's a bit long for hiking . . . but I probably will add a belt to my pack, AND I can tie her up various ways into a tunic, as well as wearing her as an underlayer when it's cold (already my plan for Camellia, shown here next to my green pullover). My packing practice yesterday went well, with my having exchanged the Birk Balis for Xero shoes, which pack pretty flat and light, in my shoe pocket. I could get everything --- my dress/leggings bag, my underwear bag, my socks/tights bag, AND my coat --- into my daypack, with a little room to spare in the larger pack. I might very well slip one more dress into this mix. The more I can layer, especially in the high altitudes, the better.
I suspect I will more or less live in my hiking boots on this trip, and that that will just have to be a fashion statement wherever I go. I will take Xero shoes for a change, but I bet I'm going to reach for my boots, day after day, just as I did here all through the winter, once I had them.
But today, in North Carolina, it's quite warm, with a projected high of 86F, and promising to be at least partly sunny. I'm happy to be wearing my light, skimmy little dress and sandals, with natural fibers underneath as well.
Checking my dress from various angles:
Not my best angle, frankly, but there it is. My great hope is that all this daily walking will shape up that part of my anatomy that is widest. There's no dress on earth that's not going to be honest about this element of my person, but again, there it is.
But I love Maggie and feel good in her.
This Aegean Teal color really is delicious. It'll be so good year-round, winter as well as summer. On my fall purchasing list --- when I cease this purchasing pause, around my birthday --- is a new pair of tan knee boots, which I think will look fantastic with this dress and others in the winter. These are the ones I eye with longing. These also are pretty cool, though. I'll probably be pondering all that while I'm in Norway, actually, but again: hiking boots are a fashion statement. Let's all just hold that thought.
And speaking of walking . . .
LATER:
We went to the dog park today, since it was deserted, rather than taking a longer walk. This was a good move, since Dora has really needed a run. After about an hour outside, which she spent running, sniffing, rolling, and derping around, we came back here. I gave her her breakfast in her crate, where she's now resting from her labors.
I'm about to begin my own labors, but first, here's the hair report:
After an hour outside in the sun, it's almost dry. My scalp feels a good deal cleaner and fresher at this point than it did after a wash with the Head & Shoulders Royal Oils formula --- that would be good for somebody with drier, curlier hair than mine, but for my waves, it was just too much moisture. Again, this time I didn't use gel right after washing, only a little of the Treluxe Reflex Serum.
As always, I get far less reliable results from air drying than I do from diffusing, but I try to avoid diffusing anyway, to save the wear and tear on my hair. The real result I'm after is healthy hair, not a particular look. So the waves here are pretty soft and relaxed and minimal, and might well just fall right out, unless/until I do a refresh with some gel. And that's fine with me. I want my hair to be clean, healthy, shiny --- and that's really all.
Some kind of fine, fragile, slightly windblown waves. Is not influencer hair, but is all okay.
Meanwhile, before I turn to other pursuits, here's a photo-dump from the dog park.
Dora doing her best impression of someone who is not a complete twerp. In fact, she is a complete twerp. We've had several unsuccessful encounters with other dogs lately (though also some okay ones, from a comfortable distance), not to mention her manic food behavior --- all the going-nuts-when-someone-is-doing-the-dinner-dishes business, because she thinks she's going to get the leftovers. So it's Boot Camp for Dogs right now around here, but today was a nice, laid-back morning, when she just got to run and play and decompress.
EVEN LATER HAIR UPDATE:
I don't know how people take good, clear shots of the backs of their heads, but I am pretty happy with how my hair has dried.
My top layers and front are always curlier than the back and under-layers, but I like how it's dried in these reasonably defined waves. Again, I'm not looking for hair that looks as though I spent a lot of time on it, but I like it when it does what I know it can do, in a soft, natural way. I'm happy with the results the Treluxe Reflex Serum gives here. This feels like a whole Normal Person With Healthy Hair vibe.
One essay on ol' mystery-man Kit Marlowe down, one more on George MacDonald to do.