Eastern Tiger Swallowtail on zinnia going to seed.
Slept late today, but have much to do: some Sun essay-writing, for the first time in two months, and some copy-editing, also for the first time in two months, plus some of my own writing if I can manage it, and class planning for the fall.
Plus some dog-walking, of course. We managed about 4.25 miles yesterday, even with the heat and wildfire smoke, which is currently pretty bad down our way after something of a hiatus. Charlotte was code-red yesterday, while we've been no more than orange, but still --- not good for breathing. We might take it really easy today. I've started doing some core exercises indoors, which wind Dora up no end and make her jump all over me, but I have to do something.
We are supposed to get some thunderstorms this week, which should help tremendously. Here's hoping for rain to wash the air clean. Temperatures are supposed to cool off into the high 80sF, too, which will be nice. Today's projected high is 94F --- one of the hottest days we've had. Of course, five days ago I was in Houston where it was 103F, and it honestly didn't feel that much worse. Beyond a certain point, hot is just hot.
Wearing today:
Maggie T, looking a little pockety here, for only the second time in July. She's a good choice for a hot day: not sleeveless, but the next best thing. And I adore this color. These dark teals and tealy greens really send me.
I'm being Team Basic, for knocking around. The nice thing about a rota of dresses is that Team Basic doesn't ever get that boring. It's just nice and simple and there-you-are.
Of course, at the same time, I'm casting my mind ahead to the fall and the colder weather that will get here eventually. I'm not bored with basic yet --- and I think it'll take longer for me to get bored, since I have more choices within my dresses --- but I'm a little jazzed by the idea of outfit-making again. I've run my eye over last year's winter outfits, some of which again were fine, and some of which made me think . . . eh. I went out in that? And I think the answer is that I need a pair of higher boots that I can walk in.
I have my tan leather Taris, which I love and look forward to putting on again. They're great for walking, very lightweight, and look good for dressing up, although by now they've gotten pretty distressed. Still, that's a good look. And then there are my Birk hiking boots, which I also love, yea even with dresses. They are the thing for the mountains, the thing for long pilgrimage-type walks, the very thing for snow and bad weather. AND then I have my old knee-high Dream Pairs camel-colored boots. They look nice, but unlike my other boots, they're not really made for walking. And I think that this year's big investment is going to be a pair of higher boots, like high enough that socks don't show over them and leggings aren't obviously leggings, that I can wear to church but also walk miles in.
Like these, for example. I have a lot of brown boots and find that while I don't want black, I am really drawn to this dark graphite as a change of pace. They're not fully knee-high, more like mid-calf, but I think that would look good with dresses. I like the buckle, which I could adjust and even hole-punch further if necessary, to get a close fit at the calf. The only dress I have that I really would not wear these with is my Audrey, because they'd be too matchy. But then I can wear my Taris with Audrey, as I did last year. Not sure how much I'd like these dark boots with my marine-blue Maggie, because the contrast level would be so low, but I really think they'd improve an outfit like this. Meanwhile, these graphite boots would look great with my red leggings, and with a whole complement of tights. I'd be warmer in my Snag microfiber tights, too, with a higher boot, so might get more wear out of those than I did last year. I could see these graphite boots with either of my Maggies and burgundy tights, for example. Or with Fiona or Brooklyn and burgundy tights. Or my sage-green "Thicket" tights. Or any of the lighter grays. I think the height and shape would be good with any of my dresses --- again excepting Audrey, but I have Audrey covered.
So, this is my big plan. I'm watching for these boots on secondhand outlets, mostly because they're sold out new and semi-hard-to-find. I might consider breaking my purchasing pause to get them (dontcha love my severe austerities?), simply because --- as quite realistically might have happened with the Taris last year --- if I wait I might find I can't get them. And while I would not say no if somebody wanted to give me a dress for my birthday or Christmas, I might just buy these instead of another dress, which I don't really need in any case. What I need, insofar as I truly need anything at all, are more options for winterizing the dresses I already own, in ways that are more pleasing to my eye, as well as more useful to my lifestyle. I want to get up, get dressed, and do all the things I need to do in my day, outdoors and in --- and I want to look good doing those things. AND I want my feet to be happy. Birks just are reliable in that category.
I'm feeling again that I'm at a juncture where my budget needs to go not to core pieces, i.e. dresses, but to areas I've traditionally ignored. I've had this default mode for years where ONE pair of shoes would do me, and I would simply buy all my other clothes to match that one pair of shoes. That's not a bad organizing principle, mind you, but when you have one pair of shoes, you end up making some weird outfits that don't work because really . . . they needed another kind of shoe. Ditto cardigans, pullovers, scarves, belts, and so on. I have traditionally ignored accessories in favor of the core wardrobe item, but I really think that in the second half of this year, as I have in fact acquired three dresses since January, my goal should be to prioritize accessories, to make the dresses I have wear better in more circumstances with less weirdness.
I'm also thinking I'll sell my Doc Martens. They're almost four years old, and I wore them a lot for a good two years --- but they are just not as comfortable as they could be. I find I don't want to walk in them. They're just sitting in my closet, gathering dust. I can clean them up nicely with my leather-cleaning kit, and while I can't sell them for top dollar, I could make back a good bit on them, I think. They're nice boots in an unusual color (light olive green). UK size 7, if anyone here is at all interested. I wear a US 9/EU 40, and they're a bit big on me, even with thick socks on. I really should have gotten a UK 6. Anyway, I think I might clean them up and put them on Poshmark, but if you or anyone you know would like them (shipping to continental US, though I'd be willing to negotiate to ship them overseas), speak now, make me an offer, and they're yours.
Anyway, that's my plan to offset the cost of new boots, though I am also due to be paid from two different sources . . . most of that will need to go to our basement-rehab fund, but I will let it burn a tiny little hole in my pocket.
Meanwhile, the Artgirl's gift of tiny hoop earrings that didn't fit her piercings means that I can wear old orphaned earrings in one ear (tiniest hoop + orphaned earring in my left ear, slightly larger tiny hoop in my single-pierced right ear).
I've managed to hang onto this funky drop earring, a gift from my husband in our Salt Lake days, for roughly 25 years. I lost its mate very early in the game (of course --- it's only the earrings you like), but it's nice to wear the survivor again.
Time to go switch some laundry over before it sours in the heat, then get down to work.
LATER:
Have written one essay on John Wilmot, second Earl of Rochester (famously pornographic Restoration poet --- we are running a family-friendly poem), and halfway through another, on Captain John Smith, of Pocahontas fame. Not sure about this second one, and will probably let it sit overnight before I revise it and put it up. I'd like to get through five poets/two weeks' worth of poems by the end of this week, which would put me two weeks ahead. I like being ahead. I distinctly do not like being behind and having to scramble.
I've also done a good bit of laundry --- washed and hung out upstairs-bathroom towels, which people seem to go through like toilet paper (though not for the same use, I hope). Things in the dryer dry much faster if the load doesn't include towels, and they smell a lot better when they dry in the sun, so that works. I've also hand-washed several wool dresses, kind of whether they needed it or not. I'd gotten spots on them, and you know, it's no harder just to wash the whole dress than it is to spot-clean and hope you got the spot out and that your efforts don't still show.
AND I've put Sierra in a current washer load, on hot, and plan to dry her in the dryer, because she's feeling so stretched out. A good bit of my desire to dye her stems not from the color, which I actually find very useful, but from my desire to SHRINK HER and have her maybe stay shrunk. No more long Sierra, ever --- assuming I do ever buy one again. I love that dress, but there just is too much of her, which is funny, because it's not like there's less of me. I am not smaller and thinner. Yet my dress feels more and more too big. This is weird, but it's also something with at least a temporary fix.
And yeah, I'm still reflecting on acquisitions for the fall. More and more I'm thinking: one real investment pair of boots, plus things like tights. I have enough leggings, but the idea of the graphite boots is spurring ideas about fun Snag Tights colors to wear with them. I have: Thicket, Navy, Graphite, Rainy Day, and Burgundy in the regular tights, plus Silver Lining (cut off to be footless), Navy, whatever the dark charcoal color is called, and Sand Dollar in merino. I didn't wear Sand Dollar last year nearly as much as I thought I would, mostly because it felt a little too tonal and brown with my Tari boots. I think I'd wear it for contrast with graphite boots. I also think I might wear microfiber tights a lot more with taller boots than I did with ankle ones, and there are some fun colors --- some blues and teals that would look good with Fiona and Brooklyn and the Maggies, a "Plum" that would be good for Advent and Lent, a "Blood Red" that might be a nice addition to a Christmas outfit . . . etc. And these are relatively cheap, at $12.95. I really underwore my microfiber tights last year, but they are soft and comfortable, and I might try to wear them more in the coming seasons --- especially as it's so often not that cold, but it's winter so you want leg coverage.
Other things I'd kind of like, if the right item came along: at least one more cropped pullover OR cardigan, and a wool or alpaca or cashmere poncho. I've been thinking I'd like a poncho for quite some time, but haven't yet seen The Precise Thing. Given the vagaries of our winter weather, I think I'd get a lot of wear out of a layer that I could just pop over my head, over other things. And I just think they look cool. But again, I haven't seen exactly what I want, and I won't spend money unless it really is exactly what I want. Anyway, these are other items that I think about, that seem maybe like more pressing priorities than a whole other dress between now and the end of the year.
Meanwhile, Dora is climbing the walls, but it's just too hot to be outside for long. We'll take a longer walk tonight, smoke or no smoke. Our air quality actually seems to have improved over the course of the day, if my app is to be believed, but now that I'm aware of it, I can't not feel it when I go out and breathe.
Anyway, back to work.