A piece of our extinct pecan tree, growing lichens outside the back door.
Monday, Monday: it's here again. In all the long years since I've been basically a homebody, I've come to like Mondays more than the average person. Far from seeming punitive after a weekend's respite (or excesses), they come instead as a palate cleanser. I'm sure I would feel differently if Monday still meant get up at 4:45 to be at school by 6:30 to do battle with the copy machine. I haven't missed those Mondays for one second of the (checks notes) 34 years since I last had one like that.
No, my Mondays are mostly a gentle getting-into-gear, and I realize that that's a privilege. Even when we were homeschooling full-time, before the last kids started dual-enrollment, I had our weeks set up so that Mondays and Fridays were short days: 3 set readings, plus math and writing. Tuesday to Thursday were longer, far more intense days, but the weeks began and ended with some space and time, and that was humane and liveable. Ease in, ease out, work hard in between, when you're good and warmed up.
In many ways, I still live like that. Monday is always an ease-in day. During the school year, it's my day to get my house in order after the weekend: laundry dealt with, sheets changed, things returned to their proper places. Usually I dink around with work: upload poems for my next set of essays, but don't write the essays yet, just think about them. Read around a little. Complete whatever the simplest tasks are on my schedule first. Look at something I've already written.
Yesterday in Mass I did something I don't think I've ever done before. Fr. Chris's homily, which was contextualizing the Transfiguration as part of the road to Jerusalem --- pairing Peter's outburst on the mountain with his outburst in the courtyard of the house of Ananias --- started me thinking, and a couple of lines of a poem appeared in my mind. I found a little envelope in my purse, and a pen, so I took them out and wrote the lines down in the middle of the homily, so I'd remember them. Later in the day, remembering that I'd done that, I took out the envelope again, wrote down and revised the lines, then kept going. I don't hate the outcome today, but then the best poem you've ever written is always the poem you wrote yesterday, so we'll see how it holds up.
Wearing today:
Maggie T, in her first August appearance. How I do love her. Again, she's a small long size --- my Maggie B-for-Blue is medium long. There's really not that much difference between sizes, especially in the length. This dress does fit a little more closely, and when she's freshly washed, I can get a little pulling in the pocket area, though that quickly relaxes (and my hands are in my pockets all the time, anyway).
It's not minimalist, but it's pretty compressed. The visual palette is becoming more and more pleasingly cohesive, so that it is, increasingly, like a big flexible capsule.
So I think I will list one more merino tee (a blue Woolx men's small --- I adore the color and the softness, but I've never been really happy with the neckline and fit), plus some of the taking-up-space items not shown at the righthand end of my closet: mother-of-the-bride dresses I won't wear again, plus this lace kimono thing that I've never worn, and the day when I might wear it is probably never going to come, since it hasn't come yet, in about four years. I've given it time, and I think it just needs to go.
IF I had another child getting married, and I hope I may before too long, I think I'd just buy a Wool& dress for my "mother" dress: an Isabelle, maybe, or an Ocean Teal Audrey, of the dresses currently on offer. This time I'd buy something I'd wear again and again, that I could dress up for the occasion. I'm not sure any of my unmarried children would have an over-the-top formal wedding in any case.
In the meantime, somebody else can get mileage out of dresses I'm never going to put on my body ever again.
So that's that. Going to finish my breakfast now and let the dog out.
ACCOUNTABILITY UPDATE:
Walked 3923 steps with Dora, which was enough in the hot sunshine and humidity. That was basically the short end of the greenway, so if we walk the long end after dark, that will take us to 3 miles, plus a turn around the park loop in the afternoon.
I have made another outside-my-purchasing-pause purchase of late, and it arrived today:
This is one of those Bandi pocketed belts, which I'd seen advertised various places online (not an affiliate link; now watch it turn up in ALL my feeds today). I've been wearing my belt pack so much, and enjoying it, that I thought it might be nice to have something similar that was a) a standard deviation less casual/outdoorsy, and b) softer and less likely to stress the waists of my dresses over time. This is very soft and stretchy, like bathing-suit material. The design, which was one of their clearance models, is very cute and will go nicely with all my dresses. It doesn't hold nearly as much as the belt pouch, but I can handily carry my phone, my ID, and a credit card in the foldover divided pocket on the front.
It's another very nice alternative to carrying a purse, and one which again will not stress the fabric of my dresses so much. I haven't noticed any stress or pilling from the belt pack so far, but as much as I've been wearing it, I thought that having some other, softer option would be a good idea. I got this one sale for about $25; normally they're $35, which isn't bad at all.
My wallet is on the verge of falling apart, so I might eventually buy one of their slim wallets, which I presume would fit into a belt band, and which have RFID blocking for security.
So that's my product review for the day. They did not solicit this review or send me the item. I just bought it and am receiving no kickbacks of any kind for reviewing it for you. The only kickback is that it's cute and I'm wearing it.
And now to drink some water and get to work.
CLOSET-CLEANING, etc.
I have now separated out things to go to the thrift store --- I'd had a collection percolating at the bottom of the outbox for months, all things that I really think would not be worth reselling, but could still have life in them for the thrift shopper (based on my own extensive experience of things on racks in thrift stores). That reduces my sale pile considerably, which feels good. It had become quite the energy vampire.
I've also culled a few of the things mentioned above from my closet: the pink kimono, plus the mother-of-the-bride dress I didn't wear. After some deliberation, I have decided to hang onto the dress I did actually wear for my daughter's wedding, nearly six years ago. I had bought it and the other on clearance for virtually nothing, and decided on this one, which I honestly still like. The other one I will never wear, so out it goes. Someone else can benefit from it. The one I'm keeping is obviously not something I'd wear all the time, or even as much as once a year, but if I should need some really dressy evening attire, I'd wear it. I have worn it, actually, with boots and a jean jacket, out to dinner or to parties. That was pre-wool, but still. I can't say I wouldn't do it again.
I also decided to hang onto a formal-length midnight-blue dress that the Texasgirl found at Goodwill when she was in high school, but for some reason decided not to wear to a prom. It was in the dress-up box, and I rescued it, mostly because I love the color. It's a pretty, sheeny fabric in a fairly straight cut that falls in folds from bosom to floor, with spaghetti straps and some velvet detail at the bosom. It needs a little repair, but I like it. It's not too prom-dressy to work for me, and if I needed a long dress for a black-tie event, I would absolutely repair the one detached spaghetti strap, find a sheer lace kimono (not pink) to wear over it, and be ready to go. I would wear it to a child's wedding, if it came to that. I don't think I'd repeat the same mother-of-the-bride dress for that situation!
I also culled out the men's small Woolx tee, but moved it to my underwear/pajamas box instead. It's so soft. I'm loath to let go of it. I just don't want it hanging there inviting itself to outfits it has no right to be part of.
Then of course the black choir dress stays.
So it feels good to have done that. The whole exercise was a fine Monday warm-up. I have also revised my Mass poem from yesterday a little, bit by bit, and still think I like it.
Meanwhile, I've managed to get locked out of my main email, and Microsoft alternately won't recognize my newly changed password and refuses to send me any more security codes, so that's fun.
Back to work.