Call Me Lady!

So I was ordering some ballet tickets tonight and when filling out the form there was this drop down box for title.  Expecting the usual mundane, I was so excited to see this - my true title as already recognized by others!

. 

When I have I been called lady?  Here is a sampling:

• "Lady, it will cost $2,000,000 to have the pipe fixed."

 

• "Lady, you are asking me?  I'm only the cashier!"

 

• "Yo, Lady, learn to drive!" - the expletives deleted since this is a G-rated blog.

 

• "Hey Lady, you blew one!" - Not sure what this meant.  It was shouted from a car full of what had to be Mensas as I stood on a city street.

Given this, of course, I selected Lady as my official title.



















 

Don't Give Up The Garden

I was out early yesterday morning picking flowers.  It is a summer Saturday sublime thing to do.  Then one gets to feel extravagantly artistic when arranging.

Still, as I bent over with a grumble - OK it was a four letter word - to pull out what seemed to be the same piece of crabgrass that I had been pulling out all summer, I remembered the immortal words of the Greats - Aunt Pen and Aunt June,  the unintentional and infamous doyennes of this blog. 

"One must never give up the garden."

This was stated a few months ago when we went to a reunion.  As we sat at the luncheon table, a woman from their class was pushed by in her wheelchair.  The woman's name was Francis which the Greats pronounced as "Froncis!"

After appropriate noises in the way of greetings, there were the stage whispers once Francis had left.

"Poor darling thing."

"Remember when she dived off the bridge?"

"Who would have thought?

"Of course, it all started when she gave up her garden."

I inquired about this last and the general consensus from the Greats was that the decline of Francis began when she had her garden mowed down and replaced with lawn.  A veritable sin according to the Greats since "She had nothing to putter in."  Need I say that the Greats are great gardeners?

I adore my garden - most of the time and have accepted the fact that crabgrass is good for my health.

 

 

United by the Moon and Ithaca

Flopped on the sofa tonight with the intent to relax with a book of favorite poems.  But instead I looked out the window, then up, and my attention was captured by the burgeoning moon.  The book was momentarily forgotten in favor of pondering.

It occurred to me how, perhaps weirdly,  the majority of my family are Cancers. Most of us were born under that astrological sign between June 22 and July 22.  This being the case, we are moon children.  Now, please do not call me a zodiac girl.  I definitely do not dial up those numbers in the back of magazines for my horoscope.

Moving on...

Right now, given that it is summer and vacation time,  we are spread out -  oddly in places beginning with vowels - Austin, Ottawa, Ireland, and Australia.  Yet at some point and at different hours, we all see our moon.

This is the beautiful moon that I see now.

No matter where we are the moon - and nowadays, Skype - unites us.  Rather marvelous to think about.

So the book of poems that I was reading?

See page 36 for "Ithaca" which has been read at weddings, birthdays, and anniversaries.  Dad read it at my wedding...

"Ithaca has given you the beautiful voyage.  Without her you would have never taken the road."























 

By Today's Standards

So I was at the library recently and there was a pretty summer display of books and DVDs for children.  Featured prominently was a newly purchased set of Shirley Temple movies.  Since I like old movies, I thought that I would  try one.  I took out "Bright Eyes."

Later in the evening, I sat back and viewed shocker after shocker - that is by today's standards. 

Just see below and pardon all the exclamation points.

Five year old Shirley hitchhikes alone to the airport!!!

First, this friendly truck driver stops!
She declines.

Shirley tries again and accepts a ride from the man in this car!

This is Uncle Ned, the curmudgeon millionaire
who ultimately has a heart of gold.
He is confined to a wheel chair.

 

The house is not appropriately accessible so
this is how Uncle Ned comes down the stairs!!!

The Shirley Antithesis Character -
she is really mean and always screaming.
I think I saw her in the grocery the other night.

  

She screams that she wants a machine gun
and points gun fingers at her father while
making machine gun noises!

Planes were called ships!
So charming...

American Airlines where I formerly spent
a lot of time - this plane looks more glamorous!

A private party for Shirley is held on this plane and
it taxis around the airport!
News has come that Shirley's mother has been killed!
This car is just pulls on to the runway to flag the plane down!

At the end of the movie, the mean girl
makes yet another nasty statement and
receives a terrific slap on the face
- in a court house no less!

The Movie