The Jerusalem artichokes have at last burst into full bloom. They're also almost as high as the Artgirl's bedroom window.
The progeny have all been referring to these plants as the "prepper plants," because their father sent a video to our family chat loop detailing how from antiquity people planted these corms --- they're a root vegetable sort of like a potato, which grows and multiplies --- so that if an enemy host was going to sweep through, taking everything they could carry, after the manner of enemy hosts, the people under attack could cut down the stalks, and nobody would know that there was food at the foot of each one.
So if civilization collapses, and why wouldn't it, we'll be eating Jerusalem artichokes.
In the meantime, they are beautiful. It takes all summer for them to arrive at this stage (I planted these in January), but once they do, they are --- as my mother likes to say --- very satisfactory.
The husband had to build a fence around the bed they're in to hold the stalks upright. They were collapsing across the driveway, but now, propped up, they're thriving. And they're supposed to propagate themselves at a rapid rate, so next year we'll have even more, and I'll need to find more places to put them (with some kind of trellis or fence in place, as we now know). The good thing about them --- one of the good things about them, that is --- is that they're so vigorous that they will crowd out weeds, which is one reason why we planted them in this neglected raised bed along the southeast side of the house. They don't need any particular attention, a quality that makes them perfect for that spot, where I'd planted a succession of vegetable gardens that failed because it's hard to reach with a hose.
Today's high: 81F, a little warmer than yesterday, but still lovely. Walking the dog last night in his customary shorts and wool t-shirt, the husband remarked that he was cold --- and it was really quite cool. I was not cold, but definitely not too warm at Mass yesterday in my linen tunic, rayon maxi skirt, and linen-rayon cardigan, and comfortable in my cushy bamboo leggings for the rest of the day.
My leggings were so cushy, in fact, that I'm tempted just to jettison all other outfit plans and wear cushy leggings and a big shirt every day until next summer.
IN FACT . . .
Here's what I did choose to wear this morning, things not at all on my hastily sketched list for the week:
*Wool& Willow dress in Ocean Teal (M/Long), bought October 2023, last worn September 5. Wears to date in 2024: 20 --- just behind Audrey, at (I think) 21 wears between January and now. I'm not surprised that this would be my second-most-worn dress, though in a minute I'm going to explore some questions that this fact raises.
*Secondhand organic bamboo-cotton leggings --- I forgot to look at the label when I put them on, and I've forgotten the brand, which wasn't one I'd really heard of anyway. Bought fall 2021, last worn . . . in January, I think.
*Secondhand Birkenstock Mayaris, bought in April, worn as a default, but I'm really enjoying the leggings/Birks vibe while the weather is right for it.
My layers are finally long enough for me to tuck my hair behind my ear without some weird layered bulk happening. FINALLY. I like wearing my hair down, but I have to remember to tuck it back out of my face.
OK, so, the ruminations you've been waiting for . . .
The question I am asking myself this morning is WHY: WHY do I love this dress so much, but not the Marine-Blue Maggie dress I'm currently reselling?
They're the same size dress: Medium Long. They both have the extra-fabric thing going on that the "long" versions of Wool& dresses do tend to have (I have had two "long" Maggies, one small and one medium, this "long" Willow, two "long" small Brooklyns, and one "long" small Sierra which now has stretched out to mid-calf length and is worn only as a nightgown, though it might function as a warm base layer in the winter). Why does this dress not feel like too much fabric, while the M/Long Maggie dress ultimately did feel like too much fabric?
It could be that the long Maggie is objectively longer. My regular-length Willow is the shortest dress I own and often gets worn as a tunic. It stands to reason that the long Willow would be not quite as long. It quite obviously grazes the top of my knee, while the long Maggie covers my knee. In this photo just above, I look as though I'm swimming in fabric. It's not swinging. It's just hanging. I had been struggling with this sensation for two years, and I've finally just given in to it. That's why I didn't automatically love the dress, and it's why I'm selling it now.
Here are some side and rear views for comparison. First, the Willow:
Now, this was never going to be a bodycon dress. I really don't like bodycon dresses (on me; I don't care what you wear; your preferences are yours, as mine are mine). It's definitely hanging down over my body --- people love to use words like sack, which sounds really derogatory to me, but yeah, I see why they reach for that word. I prefer something like smock.
The smock is a venerable, if peasanty, silhouette. You might not want to dress like a medieval peasant, but I actually don't mind. I especially don't mind when I'm feeling bloated, carrying my body's volume, if not actual extra weight, in my stomach. There are days when, despite my advancing age, I'm just going to look pregnant no matter what I wear. I'm not going to look less that way if I wear a dress with a waist (well, maybe a little, since a flared skirt with a strategically fitted waist does camouflage things nicely). I'm definitely not going to look less that way in a bodycon dress.
But I dunno. Even though I guess I'd have to say that this side silhouette isn't the most "flattering" angle (but then what did I expect?) I still somehow like it better than the same angle in the Maggie:
I'm hard-pressed to articulate what I think the difference is. It could be an infinitesimal difference in length. That inch, or however much the difference is, really is a lot more significant than I would have thought. I do also think the back pleat detail (which they've phased out of the new Willow design, sadly) makes a difference --- not that it makes the silhouette somehow more "flattering," but it adds interest. It makes the smock shape not utterly plain. The Maggie doesn't have that subtle detail, and I think the lack of it makes the loose line read as far more shapeless.
I also think that the 3/4-length sleeves and the V-neckline do a lot to break up the loose line of the Willow dress. As much as I love the Maggie's scoop neck, I don't think it achieves quite the same effect, when the rest of the dress is such an unbroken block of fabric.
Finally, the color makes a difference. Now, I love Marine Blue. It's a gorgeous navy. It has shimmer and luminosity, where navies are often so flat and matte. But in this design, that dark neutral isn't really enough to elevate things. It doesn't have a lot of character on its own, so when the shape of the dress also doesn't have a lot of character, the cumulative effect is blah. At least, it's really not what I had envisioned when I ordered the dress. I've tried to make it work, but it never really has.
I don't suppose I'll ever have a chance to compare apples to apples --- this Ocean Teal Willow to a Marine Blue Willow. I think they did release this design in Marine Blue before reworking it, but I don't have one. It's possible that I could have this same dress in Marine Blue and feel as blah about it as I've felt about the Maggie (which does actually remain one of my favorite styles --- I love my Aegean Teal Small Long Maggie). Or I might feel completely different about it, thanks to the different design details.
But in any event, I think the Ocean Teal color is a significant factor in my feelings about these two dresses. I feel beautiful in this color. I could wear an Ocean Teal garbage bag and feel pretty in it. It just has a lot of energy on its own that I think is maybe lacking in the Marine Blue (though again I love it, and I might or might not be acquiring a different dress in the same color).
Anyway, I like my outfit today. I don't care whether anyone else thinks it's flattering. I love the colors. I love my fun striped leggings, which haven't gotten enough wear, but are great for a transitional day like today. I love the easy swing of my dress, and the fact that it doesn't require my body to be on display. I'm not hiding, and I'm not ashamed of my body, but I'm also not putting pressure on it to perform visually. I don't owe anyone that performance, at least not random strangers in public. I feel vibrant, fun, comfortable, and far more put together than if I were just wearing leggings and a huge shirt. I can move gracefully in what I'm wearing. I feel more graceful in what I'm wearing than I would in a no-more-comfortable-but-sloppier outfit.
All of that makes me happy. It makes me confident. It makes my appearance just kind of disappear from the surface of my mind --- I don't have to keep revisiting it out of anxiety. It feels like something of an artistic composition (one of the qualities of the "Queen Baddie," according to this account, is that her clothing is her art, and her outfits are compositions), though I don't want my clothes to scream "Artistic Composition." I'm just not that overt a personality. At the same time, I think I probably tilt more in that direction than I'd really previously considered.
No, I don't ever, in any universe, want to dress like Iris Apfel. But I do want to wear what I like, regardless of what anyone else thinks about what I like. Most of all, I want not to die of self-consciousness before my time. Outfits that make me feel vibrant and alive, but not obvious or overt or in anyone's face, are the key --- so that, truly, I can just not think about how I look. The secret is not to hide, or to be nondescript, which is honestly how that blue Maggie dress made me feel, though I struggled mightily not to feel that way. The secret is just . . . something else. And whatever that is, I feel that I've put my finger on it today.
PS: My wandering cardigan has at last found its way back east, and is out for delivery today! After all that, I hope I like it.
LATER:
*Have walked the dog in the beautiful sunshine
*Have consulted with the husband about my dogwood tree, which seems to be dying. Thinking about what I'll plant in its place (more Jerusalem artichokes? quite possibly . . . )
*Have done some deep-cleaning in the bathroom. Wiped down the toilet, the walls around it, and the floor with cleaning wipes; wiped the mirror frame and the lights above it, which had gathered dust; wiped the light switch and the wall around it. I had already wiped most of the woodwork, but those walls by the toilet needed attention, and the whole bathroom looks and smells fresher.
*Have bounced on the trampoline for a few minutes, and hope to do so again later on. Hope to heft some little weights as well --- time to get back on that wagon.
*Have put together the husband's lunch for school (although he really only has a couple of late-afternoon classes): leftover soup from last night, which itself was an amalgam of Friday's and Saturday's dinner leftovers, plus the last big honeycrisp apple.
I'll have some lunch soon, though I'm not hungry yet, having eaten a nice bowl of plain whole-milk yogurt for breakfast. Still finishing my last cup of coffee.
About to look at what I'm writing, though I have to steel myself.
Also, reading lately:
*Just finished a reread of Eudora Welty's Delta Wedding, which is a serious contender for personal favorite novel of all time.
*Now reading John Steinbeck's East of Eden, which I have somehow managed to live nearly 60 years without reading. Gosh, the writing is beautiful. It's the kind of novel that fills me with dread, because I know bad and painful things are set to happen, but the sheer art of the prose is an enchantment.
*Still plugging away, irregularly, on both Don Quixote and Tom Jones, plus my other reading: Augustine, Milton, etc. I haven't been very assiduous, but maybe the fresh fall weather will prompt me.
AND!
Look, my new cardigan finally found its way home!
Bought the last week in August, won't really get worn until the weather is colder, but it's definitely worth the wait. It was described as a sweater-coat, and that's exactly what it is.
It's 100% merino, an Eileen Fisher design, in a soft brown with a greenish undertone. I don't love it with the charcoal-and-teal-striped leggings, necessarily, but I do love it with this teal dress. It'll go well with all my teals, blues, greens, pinks, and purples, as well as other browns --- basically my whole wardrobe. It's very heavy and warm, and I can see wearing it as an outer layer in all but the coldest weather. It's long enough almost to function as a dress on its own, though I don't know that I'd really wear it that way.
I love it, and I'm glad I bought it, especially secondhand, and I'm glad it got here at long last, after its wanderings around the southern U.S. It will be an element in so many outfits this fall and winter, as I can already tell.
EVENING UPDATE:
*Walked the dog yet again
*Did some writing (added lines to a poem in dimeter, which is hard to maintain --- I keep wanting to make it trimeter!)
*Answered some emails
*Began research for a lecture I'm giving later this fall
*Made dinner: a lower-carb cottage pie (such as I've probably described here before) with a riced-cauliflower topping instead of potatoes. I just browned 2 lbs of ground beef (making a lot so that we could have substantial leftovers for lunches tomorrow), dusting the beef with a little xantham gum so that when I added broth, it would thicken to gravy. Added diced onion and garlic, sliced carrots and frozen green peas, then the beef broth with some butter to help it thicken further. A splash of tamari and a splash of cider vinegar for a little umami depth and tartness. Salt and pepper to taste, plus a little dill seed and tarragon. Spread this mixure, with its gravy, in a baking dish and topped with two bags of riced cauliflower, with more salt and pepper. Baked for 30-45 minutes. It was delicious, though I wished we'd had some cider to go with it, for the whole fallish pub night experience.
Now I'm going to read a bit while the husband takes a little nap, then we'll have tea and walk the dog again. It's not 8 p.m. yet, but already almost dark --- the season is changing! I actually love the drawing-in of the days, though I'm plenty ready for them to start spreading out again before the winter is over. But right now I look forward to cool, then cold night walks with Dora, with the stars overhead and lights shining out from the houses. And more candlelit suppers, eating warm savory things: cottage pie and soups and curries and chili. The autumn here is so brief --- summer-warm for so long, and then just like that, it's over --- that I want to steep in it while I have it, or something like it.
Here's my lamplit room in reflection, printed on the night outside the window.