Magic spring moon --- the 'worm moon' in America, the "Lenten moon" in Europe --- above a house licked by tongues of forsythia. Driving home last night, I was driving straight into the gigantic white moon above the soft, darkening folds of the mountains, and I felt I could have driven forever, just like that, into the eye of nightfall.
It had been variably cloudy all day in the mountains, with mutters of thunder in the late afternoon. Marly and I sat at the table and talked, and then we sat on the balcony and talked, and then we sat at the table and talked some more. Michael, her husband, made us the most marvelous vegan Asian soup --- a base of vegetable broth with those translucent thin noodles that I associate with Korean cuisine, shreds of kale, and oyster mushrooms. Generous lime juice, ginger, garlic, and red-pepper flakes --- it was quite spicy. On the side we had sandwiches: very grainy whole-wheat bread, avocado, tomato slices, alfalfa sprouts, and some kind of mustardy dressing that I forgot to ask about. And water. It's lucky that this year the Western and Eastern calendars overlap, so that we were all --- Orthodox and Catholic alike --- having Lent at the same time. Also luckily for me I guess, Orthodox Lent doesn't absolutely preclude strawberry shortcake for dessert (and Marly, who has osteoporosis, has a dispensation for dairy, so we had cream with it). I have not specifically given up strawberry shortcake for Lent, so I said please and thank you, and then had extra strawberries with a little more cream. I'd had a small bowl of plain Greek yogurt for breakfast, and I ate cottage cheese after I got home (around 9:30 pm), and that was really ample nourishment for me for the day.
Michael also snapped this photo of Marly and me as I was leaving, so we'd have a record of having seen each other:
I was wearing my jacket and had slung my purse across my body, so you can't see my capsule outfit very well --- I wound up just using one of yesterday morning's bathroom selfies for my challenge album. But there we are, the Young Crones Poetry Society, with Lenten roses and mountain trees, still leafless.
Today's agenda:
*walk the dog
*pick up the Viking's prescription and overnight it to him, because I forgot all about it until now
*finish my essay for next Tuesday --- I can leave my next-Friday's essay for another day or so, but I want to get the beginning of the week written and loaded so that I don't have to worry about it over the weekend
*change the sheets (been putting it off, and we were out of town for one night, but must needs)
*think of something for dinner
*Stations of the Cross in the parish tonight
Wearing (I know, I know, a lot of poses, rather self-glamorizing of me):
*Secondhand Not Perfect Linen Mama maxi dress in Caffe Mocha, bought September 2024, last worn March 5. Wears in 2025: 4
*Secondhand Eileen Fisher silk-blend cardigan, bought right before Lent 2025, first year of wear
*Secondhand Birkenstock Rosemead clogs, third year of wear
Feeling very Emily-Dickinson-but-not-in-white today. I adore this soft, soft grayed lavender, especially with the tender pink of this cardigan. It all feels very early spring, cool and gentle. Everything about this dress appeals to me: the higher-set, gathered waist (both relaxed and defined), the rounded neckline, the buttons, the 3/4 sleeves that mean I can wear it on its own in transitional weather and be neither too covered nor too bare. The linen is nicely heavy, but so soft, thanks to wearings and washes.
Five days into my capsule challenge --- more than halfway! --- I'm enjoying the variety these nine items offer. I like that in this warmer spring weather, I didn't have to choose a range of layers, so that instead I could wear more dresses in an easy rota. I keep deviating to my Iris Blue Sierra, the real default item in the mix, but it's nice not to have to wear it, especially when the weather makes me feel like today's outfit vibe.
It's also nice just to be able to wear a dress this length when I know I'm going to church --- I don't have to modest up my short dress for a church-appro outfit. Clearly I don't think wearing a shorter dress is a mortal sin, or any kind of sin. If I thought it was, I wouldn't wear short dresses. But there is appropriateness for context, and I'm glad I took that into consideration in planning this capsule. It's serving me perfectly for all the things I need to do. I could have left out the silk dress in favor of something else, but I didn't want to break my capsule to go out for our anniversary, and I can and will happily repeat it for Mass on Sunday with one of my two cardigans. It's good, actually, to be getting more wear out of that dress, and to push past my apprehension --- I worry that I'm going to ruin the silk by spilling something on it. But I've washed that dress multiple times (the main thing is to use only the tiniest bit of soap, because the fabric wants to hold onto it), and it's survived, and also I'm increasingly coming to regard any lingering spots as part of its patina. As long as it's not actively dirty or stained, which it never is, I can deal with a little dappling of the fabric, in the same way that I deal with moss on bricks: by appreciating it.
So I suppose I had better do something productive now. It is awfully nice to sit here in the sun by the window, pleasing myself, full stop.
AFTERNOON UPDATE:
I have
*walked the dog
*picked up, paid for, packaged, labeled, and mailed the meds (walked the package to the post office to be sure it makes the overnight express mail)
*hung some laundry
*taken some outdoor photos for the 9x9 challenge album
I am loving this challenge, with its variety of fibers and fabrics and shifts of mood.
This is exactly how I wanted to feel today.