A regular frenemy of Dora's along the greenway trail, taunting us from on high as we passed earlier this morning.
Dora:
"I want to spill that cat all over this asphalt. But I wouldn't give it the satisfaction."
This is the day we're having, brilliant and cool, with a projected high of 70F. I'm back inside now, with Dora stowed again in her crate and work before me, but it was nice to get out and breathe the air for an hour first.
Wearing today:
Day 7, not that anybody is keeping count. Not that I've made an album. Not that I can't wear something different the minute I feel like it. But, you know. I just happen to have worn this dress seven days in a row so far.
Trying her with my redyed herbal-green bamboo leggings, a combination I like a lot. I had the purple Birks on anyway, but I think they make a nice palette with the soft green leggings and the bright teal pop of the dress. I added this light pullover, too --- so old I can't remember when I got it, but thrifted, and just the thing for a day when it's not chilly, but not hot --- anyway, I like how the purply pink of the sweater harmonizes with my shoes, without matching. It's really too warm for boots today, but they'd work with this outfit in colder weather.
The proportions of this outfit are maybe kind of iffy --- but it doesn't feel too off. I think that a longer dress, like this medium-long Willow, adds some needed balance to the boxy shape of the sweater. I'm not really hitting the Rule of Thirds here, but I don't feel too bisected by the sweater's hemline. It probably helps that the sweater is as light and thin as it is, not bulky. Anyway, I feel more put-together than I thought I would, and everything I'm wearing is breathable and soft, warm when I need it without adding heat or weight. And everything but my dress is secondhand.
The dreaded rear view, actually not so dreaded in a medium dress, with a little more flow and give.
Now that we've walked, I'm going to settle down to some short essay-writing --- finishing off a piece on John Greenleaf Whittier's "Telling the Bees," then a brief meditation on Yeats's "Wild Swans at Coole." At some point in the afternoon I want to lift some little weights and do some hip-abductor exercises, because my right hip has been hurting at night, interrupting my sleep. And just some moves for flexibility --- I've been fascinated by this man on Instagram and the way he plays with balance and movement and strength-building. Trying to work some of his ideas and routines into my daily exercise. As much as I'd love a more sculpted body, what I really need is a more functional, flexible, capable body. So in between bouts of writing, I get up and move with that in mind.
All of which, now, I had better get on with.
LATER:
Finished with essays for the moment! And I have two of three back-jacket endorsements lined up for the poetry book! Hooray hooray! Much that I need to do, but big things done.
OH ALSO, I actually wrote a little fiction this morning, before I did the other things. As of now, I've done two essays, lined up the endorsements, read through the first hundred pages of my student's MFA thesis (only 329 to go!), and exercised some more, focusing on hip flexibility, balance, posture, upper-body strength, and core, all in about 15 minutes. You don't have to do things long. You just have to do them regular.