First one up, drinking coffee, admiring these enormous peaches on the kitchen counter at my mother's.
Yesterday was a long day of air travel, with a lot of waiting around in two airports. Fortunately the Charlotte airport wasn't the disaster zone I was anticipating with some anxiety, and our planes were more or less on time --- the Charlotte-to-Chicago plane was delayed, but we had a long layover in Chicago, so that didn't matter. The Chicago-to-Memphis plane was right on time, and my mother and brother were there to meet us, and now we're here.
The high today in Memphis is a remarkable 78F. What happened to July? Who cares? This is nice. We're apparently in for a lot of thunderstorms, but then that was the case at home, too. Our plans are essentially to drive around: to a pottery in Merigold, Mississippi, today, and around my mother's hometown of Jackson, Tennessee, tomorrow. Wine with my mother's former neighbor, who loves the Artgirl, then dinner with my mother-in-law.
Then home on Sunday, though our plane doesn't leave till late afternoon. That seemed like a good idea when I was making the reservations, but I wonder if the result in reality won't be one of those awful, desultory days when you feel like you can't do anything, because you have to be somewhere at 3:30 p.m. (Subtext: I would far rather drive than fly, but I let the Artgirl talk me into flying because she didn't want to spend ten hours in the car --- which is fair. Not everybody loves spending ten hours in the car. I'm just one of those weirdos who do love that).
I took my linen dresses out of my backpack last night, unrolled them and hung them up, and spritzed them with water with the little spray bottle I had packed (empty) for that purpose (also good for refreshing the hair). I'm happy to report that the worst of the wrinkles have fallen out. According to the weather report, today is the coolest day of our stay, but temps won't rise about 85F while we're here. I'm tempted, sort of, to wear my Wool& Willow dress today, since it is so cool, but as I had anticipated really feeling the linen, I might be feeling linen regardless.
Aaaaaaand . . .
Wearing today:
I was feeling the linen.
*Secondhand Not Perfect Linen Leila dress (M/L) in Chocolate Brown, bought December 2023, last worn (with this cardigan, no less) July 18
*Secondhand Brooks Brothers pink merino cardigan, bought November 2023, last worn yesterday
*Thrifted Crocs, bought by Texasgirl and given to me in April
Some wrinkles, as you see, but really not too bad for a dress that spent hours yesterday rolled up in a backpack. The rest of the wrinkles will fall out with wear, and/or be replaced by wrinkles sustained in wear, and that's just the story of linen.
I chose Crocs over Birks today because the weather promises to be wet.
One thing about this dress that has really grown on me in the time I've been wearing it is the way that the color plays against the girliness of the design. I love how twirly and fit-and-flare this dress is. I adore the bow at the waist. I would totally go dancing all night in this dress ("all night" is a phrase which here means "until about ten p.m.," because I am old).
But I like that it's this unobtrusive soft brown. Not that I wouldn't own this same dress in wine red, because I would in a heartbeat, but I love the self-effacing color in contrast with the very over-the-top feminine silhouette. I'm not sure I can articulate why this pleases me so much, or why I think of it as artistic, but it does, and I do. That doesn't mean that I don't also love the same dress in Cinnamon Rose: also a yes. I do love that dress.
I guess this is worth noting only because I did not expect to love this dress in brown quite so much as I do, and indeed bought dye to change the color. I still have that dye. Someday some linen thing may be reborn in midnight blue, but not this linen thing. Not today.
I hope to take some photos down in Mississippi; if I do, I'll post them here. TTFN, however.
LATER:
Scenes from McCarty Pottery, Merigold, Mississippi. In addition to making beautiful ceramic pieces, they also have a marvelous garden, consisting of a series of paved outdoor rooms, on their 1-block property in the middle of (extremely small and quiet) Merigold.
Much water-garden beauty:
If you wanted to know what I'd really like my backyard to look like . . . this is it. My dream.