The beauty and symmetry of lichen on a log in our backyard.
We're approaching that point, as summer verges into autumn, when we hear fewer cicadas, more crickets. The crickets have been there all this time, but at the height of the summer the loudmouths, or loud whatever-it-is-that-makes-that-noise, drown them out. This morning I'm hearing, again, their thready, breathy note, which says cooler weather is coming.
Today, actually, is pretty cool, at least for the moment: 51F, with a high of 81. Warm, but again, not bad. Out walking the dog last night I was even a little chilly in my dress and light pullover. I could have worn something heavier and not been at all too hot.
It's nice to wake up to a cleaner house this morning --- I can spare myself the meltdown of yesterday, because the things I was melting down about are dealt with (by me, once I'd gotten the meltdown out of my system). I do want to deal with the detritus that's gathered on the deacon's bench in our back hall, but I think I'll do that one item at a time until it's cleared. Yesterday I gathered up shopping bags, stuffed them inside each other, and put them in the back of my car, where they will be of some use to me. Today I think I'll find a place for my husband's daypack, which has been sitting there since our abortive hike in Saluda back in July, and maybe one or two other little things. But overall, the house feels much cleaner and fresher, and I'm glad I took the time yesterday to get it that way, even if it meant that I didn't work on the Sonnez Les Matines essay, which I really need to work on, because mid-October, with that deadline, is getting sooner every day.
I ticked off a couple other tasks as well --- sending new headshots to my publisher, beginning to assemble a list of people to write endorsements for the new book. I loathe approaching people to ask them for something, but at this point I know --- better, I think, that I knew with either previous book --- whom to ask. It's nice to be back among the poets, because I know so many more poets than I do fiction writers, and I also know who's happy to write blurbs and who doesn't do it at all. I also know people for whom I have written them in the last couple of years . . .
Anyway, rather surprisingly to me, I know a lot, and a lot of people, I didn't know four years ago when we were putting Motherland together. I'm still working on that endorser list, but it's nice to be able to put together a list that includes near-certainties (people who will almost certainly say yes, or at least only decline if there's some compelling reason why they can't), plus a couple of long-shot big-name candidates --- Rowan Williams, for example, who included one of my Richeldis poems in an anthology last year.
So the day wasn't a total bust in terms of getting work done, though I didn't accomplish as much as I'd intended.
Today's agenda: more of the same, minus (one hopes) any more big emotions about housework.
Wearing:
Ooh la la! Living dangerously, wearing leggings! It's cool enough in the house right now that the layer on my legs is welcome, for the first time in I don't know how long. Whether I'll still feel that way when I go out to walk the dog is another question entirely, but anyway, these are fairly cool as leggings go. They're bamboo/cotton, bought almost two years ago on Poshmark, and redyed this summer when I was redyeing my Sierra dress. I'd been hoping for something a little more basil-colored than thyme-colored, but on the whole I think I like how these turned out. The green is soft and muted, and the combination with this "wisteria"-colored Willow dress seems right to me.
In the privacy of my bathroom, behind locked doors, striking these silly supermodel poses is actually a lot of fun. As an outlet, it beats kicking over the bathroom trash. Meanwhile, again, I'm very pleased with the play of colors here: harmony without matching.
This is Willow's second outing in September --- I've now worn each of my dresses at least twice, and a handful three times. So again, my rotations are fairly evenhanded, and every core thing in my closet is getting worn. Other things aren't, so much: shirts, skirts, jackets, cardigans, leggings. BUT we're still in that season where top layers are superfluous, by and large. I'm happy to be transitioning into another season, when it'll be easier to cycle all those ancillary items into my daily outfits, but it's also nice just to be able to put on a dress and be done with decisionmaking.
This outfit, too, will transition into colder weather with ease. Just add boots, and that's it. Done and out the door. That is one thing I've come to appreciate about dresses with sleeves. While I wear my sleeveless dresses year-round, the simplicity of just putting on a dress with some leg layer and appropriate shoes or boots is very nice in the wintertime. This new dress that I've bought will fall into that category --- assuming it fits and is flattering. It might not look the way I'm envisioning, in which case I'll send it back and wait for something better to come along. But I like that I'll have an even rota of
3 sleeveless dresses (Audrey, Camellia, Sierra)
3 short-sleeved dresses (Brooklyn, Maggie in marine-blue and teal)
3 longer-sleeved dresses (Fiona, Willow, New Dress)
So far, there hasn't been a dress in my wardrobe that I haven't worn all year round. I hadn't expected, necessarily, to wear my longer-sleeved dresses in the summer, but rather to my surprise, I did wear Fiona and Willow even in quite hot weather. BUT the dresses with at least some sleeve really come into their own in both transitional weather, when you want to look not so much like summer, even when it's still warm, and as temperatures (finally) drop.
I will spill that the new dress isn't a heavy knit --- it's not a Margo. I'm tempted by that style, but think that I would get more wear out of a longer-sleeved style in the lighter jersey, precisely because it's turned out to be wearable all year. I will plan to buy a new sleeveless dress sometime next spring --- or a short-sleeved style, if something comes in that really catches my eye --- to be my go-to next summer, as two of my sleeveless dresses are starting to show their age and wear. I'm hoping that subsequent dresses won't get as worn as fast, but Camellia and Sierra were my first two dresses and so got worn a lot harder on the front end (Camellia especially) than any other dress has been worn.
That's one thing that gives me pause about doing a 30-day challenge. I mean, there's also the fact that I like wearing different dresses, because I have them. But also, I've seen how that everyday wear over any kind of extended period does show up in even a well-made, durable piece of clothing. It just does. These are beautifully made dresses, constructed well out of high-quality materials --- and yet. Turns out they're not actually chain mail. I anticipate that the dresses I've worn less hard will last somewhat longer in very good condition because --- surprise surprise --- I haven't expected them to be chain mail.
Not that I won't keep wearing Camellia and Sierra, mind you, but I think the time will be ripe for some kind of replacement as a nicer dress.
But that's some way down the road. The nice thing, really, is that I've built a pretty good, functional wardrobe, and although yes, I get tempted by various new styles, I really don't need to buy dresses in the quantities I've added in the last year. Last year I bought three new dresses. This year I've bought four. That feels like a lot. But I don't think any given dress has been an excess --- and now I can add new ones a lot more slowly and judiciously, while enjoying what I have. Which I do. I can't remember a time in my life, ever, when I've enjoyed the clothes I own this much.
And that's really a gift. I am grateful for it.
LATER:
I have
*walked the dog for 45 minutes/2+ miles
*written a Sun essay
*written another paragraph of my Sonnez Les Matines essay
*stripped our bed but not put new sheets on it yet
*folded laundry and moved another load to the dryer, plus done my daily handwashing
This is a better day. And really, it is a more productive day because I did the hated cleaning yesterday. I think I might get up in a minute and clear a few more things off the deacon's bench, then go and do some resistance exercises.
I also made a tasty little Cajun corn chowder for lunch, out of larder staples: canned corn, canned white beans, canned carrots, some chicken bone broth and evaporated milk. Added Tony's Cajun spice blend, and it was, again, quite tasty. I might bulk it up with some kielbasa for dinner tonight, to ensure that there's extra to give my husband for tomorrow's lunch. He's out late tonight, so I am piddling around on my own and feeding myself . . . and again, to be the kind of thing I used to think I'd rather be shot than make using canned goods, my chowder is quite satisfactory.