A tree made strange by its own shadow on the back wall of the old gym.
Yesterday's midmorning moon:
This morning's sun-filled, distinctly autumnal tree:
Same stuff on today. It's the husband's late night at school, so whatever's for dinner will be pretty simple.
Today's high: 78F. Low: 46F. Again, a big range. That's how you can tell it's not summer anymore.
Wearing (with wet hair, currently):
Just, you know, lounging around in the bathroom, as one does, in the following clothes:
*Wool& Brooklyn dress (S/Long) in Pacific, bought May 2023, last worn October 9. Total wears this year to date: 18
*Secondhand Connemara merino cardigan, bought October 2024, last worn October 18.
*Secondhand Allbirds tencel-merino navy leggings, bought May 2023. First wear in quite some time. I've been passing them over in favor of the blue-gray ones, but those need a wash, so it's navy today.
*Secondhand Stegmann clogs, bought August 2024, last worn October 12.
I'll lose this heavy cardigan soon enough, but I really like the green-on-green and the shape with my Brooklyn dress. Showing my outfit from many angles, because some are definitely cuter than others.
My clogs still rub my instep a lot when I walk any distance in them, so I'll probably switch to my charcoal Xero Oswegos for dog-walking. But I like these clogs in the house. They're such a nice transitional shoe --- closed-toe, so not too summery, but not heavy winter shoes, either. The pale tan leather makes a perfect contrast with my navy leggings. And although they continue to rub in this weird way, they are actually so soft and comfortable to knock around in.
Of the shoes I bought in August, I think I'm going to resell the floral Mary Janes --- they just don't feel right somehow, in a way I can't describe. The idea was good, but for some reason I'm just not happy with them on my feet. You win a few, you lose a few. Hopefully you win more than you lose, because you don't want to have a revolving door of clothing going on (I don't, anyway), but sometimes it just happens, and it's not a huge ethical deal. So I'll probably be cleaning those up again in the next little while --- maybe after I get back from all my travels --- and pricing them to move, to get them out of my closet.
I did ship out my red Xero Cassies. Funny that I bought them for the last Catholic Imagination Conference, back in 2022. They were fun, but also didn't get nearly the wear I had hoped --- sometimes things just don't feel as right as you imagine they're going to, and other things feel far more right. I'm pretty happy with the closetful of shoes I currently own and wear. They supply my various needs; most of all, they're all (with the possible weird exception of these clogs) excellent for walking in. And the clogs will be fine with socks, once it's a little colder. I guess actually I could put on some footy socks and wear them --- it's the kind of thing the Artgirl would do and look cool doing, so maybe I'll give that a whirl.
I hear the dog starting to stir in her crate, so it's time to wind up these meditations and plunge on into the day.
AFTERNOON UPDATE:
As predicted, I lost the cardigan fast. I also switched from clogs to Birks, though I did wear socks with my clogs to walk (not un-dorky, but much more comfortable):
.jpg)
I have bought a plane ticket to go to Dallas the weekend after the conference (also the weekend after my birthday) to see the Viking in a play. Apparently he's onstage for more or less the entire play, so really, I can't not go see him. I wish I could drive and spend time, but I have to be back for this Walsingham lecture the following Wednesday, so it's a quick turnaround, but at least one of us is going to see him (and the others).
AND the husband is coming home early tonight, because the campus group he sponsors cancelled their meeting. So we're going to go to the pub and kick back. "You've been working so hard," he says. Too right I have.
What have I done today, you ask. You mean, besides walk the dog and make curried pumpkin soup for lunch (can of pumpkin puree, can of coconut milk, a little water to thin, plus curry spices to taste and a dollop of honey)? I have finished and uploaded a Substack essay on W.S. Gilbert, worked on my conference presentation, written about 500 words of my Walsingham lecture, read three chapters of T.S. Eliot's Notes Towards a Definition of Culture, written about four (rhymed and loosely metered) lines of poetry, and dusted the kitchen windowsill.
I think I deserve a beer.