I went off yesterday and left my Wednesday post unpublished until this morning, but anyway, now it's Thursday and here is Thursday's post. This photo is of a lake up above the Chetola resort in Blowing Rock, North Carolina --- having hiked for about an hour on one of my favorite trails on the Blue Ridge Parkway, Zina and I had come back to Blowing Rock, walked around town, had beer and dinner at the Ale House, eaten ice-cream sandwiches at the Blue Deer coffee shop (where they make you a custom ice-cream sandwich with the ice cream and cookies of your choice), walked around town some more, then hiked from her condo at Chetola up the mountain to this lake, and around the lake. We later walked some laps around the resort roads, so all in all, even with the beer and ice cream, today I am feeling well exercised.
While walking around the resort roads, as darkness was falling, we passed a woman out raking leaves. She said, "You girls sure are up early." I think Zina and I both thought, hm, what an odd thing to say, did we hear her correctly? She also told us we both looked beautiful. We chatted with her a little more.
Then she said, "Is it supposed to be like this [waving arms at darkness] all day?"
I said, "Did you by any chance take a nap and sleep really heavily and think you'd slept all night?"
Yes, it turned out that that was exactly what she had done: slept so heavily that when she woke up she assumed it was morning. We left her wondering whether she should go in and have some coffee, or just what. The next time we passed that spot, she had gone inside --- I kind of hope not to have coffee, since it was already 9:30 at night, not the early morning at all.
We talked until very late --- it was after midnight when I looked at my phone and realized the time. The drive home was . . . dark . . . and I was kind of tired, and I was halfway down the mountain before I realized that I was almost out of gas, but thank goodness for 24-hour Love's stations (my gas station of choice when I'm traveling this fine country by car). Anyway, I got home safely around 1:30 a.m. and then proceeded not to sleep very well, so today's writing might be kind of strange.
And it's back to thinking about Emily Dickinson today, with what's left of my brain cells.
Wearing today:
*Secondhand Flax linen tunic, bought April 2024
*Secondhand Cynthia Rowley linen trousers, bought April 2024
*Secondhand Birk Mayaris, bought April 2024
I had this outfit on my list for this week, but I'm not sure I'm sold on it. The proportions feel kind of weird. I do like the colors: washed navy with this dusty rose-pink. But the shape is off, too downward, for lack of a better way to put it. I had thought that this might be pajama-like in an arty way, but I don't think it's achieving quite what I had envisioned. I'm going to eat some breakfast and think on it, but the tunic is probably going to go back in the closet, to be worn with something else another day, while I find a top I like better with these trousers.
SLIGHTLY LATER . . .
I think this is better:
This other secondhand Flax tunic (bought in February, I think) is still pretty voluminous, but it's not as long, and the curved hem makes for a better/more interesting line in the outfit. It's still linen, so nice and light and airy for a warm day, and I do like this blue with the pink trousers just as well as I liked the navy. Overall, this feels like a little more balanced pajama-type outfit than what I'd originally put on. AND I needed to wear this tunic, just as much as if not more than I had needed to wear the other one, so it all works out.
OH ALSO, here's a selfie Zina and I took yesterday. She's posted one on social media (with my permission, and she did give me permission to post this photo):
You can't see it that well in any of the pictures we took, but this little lake has a Lake Isle, like Innisfree. I wonder if anyone has arisen and gone now, and gone to that Lake Isle, and a small cabin built there of clay and wattles made.
LATER:
Fixing to go out to the pub (or the wine bar; waiting for verdict on food options), and decided I was tired of the voluminous tunic action. I wanted something that would showcase the whole shape of these trousers, with their high-rise elastic waist, which is one of my favorite elements of this particular piece.
So . . .
Good thing I have this cropped WoolX men's tee (bought late 2021, last worn June 5. I prefer it left untucked, though I could tuck it in to showcase the waist of my trousers even more.
I think I like the waist a little less emphasized, but still visible and there, and not swamped in fabric. As much as I like tunics, I don't adore long tunics over these trousers --- as I now know.
Sometimes a default ponytail is a nice thing after all. And I'll never not love this shade of blue. Looking forward to strolling out with the man of the house, to drink the beer of the town.
UPDATE:
And that's an ixnay for the food truck at the pub, so it's the wine bar instead. For a little extra wine-bar-ish polish:
Secondhand J.Jill linen-blend long cardigan, bought last summer. The only thing not thrifted about this outfit is the cross-body bag, bought last year for pub nights and Norway.
And off we go.