For tonight's viewing pleasure.....
I recommend, as Jan's friend did to her and she did to me, the new Netflix "dramedy" called "The Chair," starring Sandra Oh who plays the newly appointed chair of the English department at (fictional) Pembroke University.
I binged the entire first season and now it's late, so that's all I'll say--except I enjoyed it very much!
In 1910-1920, during the Mexican Revolution, women soldiers fought against dictatorship alongside the men. Even with bullets strapped to their chests and guns in their arms, they had to wear dresses and ride side saddle.
Evolving from the Charreria is a team sport called Escaramuza. Veronica grew up participating in this sport starting at the age of five, wearing beautiful dresses and riding side saddle, upholding a tradition that had been part of her Davila family for generations.
In September, Veronica's dresses, oral history and photographs will be part of an exhibition at the Smithsonian Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.
She did the first oral history portion 13 years ago when Nathan was a baby; last week, she did a follow-up. I've heard her mention this sport many times, but I'd never actually gotten to learn about it as I've done this week.
Watching some You Tube videos, I was struck by the precision of the riders' synchronized moves on horseback and the strict rules for dress. Dresses must be cotton and a certain length and under those dresses are stiffly starched petticoats. (like the crinolines of the 1950s.)
Here are photos of (1) Baby Veronica with her daddy, (2) This week with her dad in his current house, Nathan and Elena looking on as she is being interviewed, and (3) Veronica demonstrating the escaramuza dress with Elena as her model.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IQ7qneVx_Y
This is one of the videos I found online that shows what it's like to participate in Escaramuza.
Thanks to Bob and Jocelyn for these photos of Carlene's wonderful 96th birthday! They brought her lunch--and she got phone calls and texts and flowers throughout the day. She sounded as exhilarated at the end of the day as she had when we talked early morning!
It’s the fire in my eyes,
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing in my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
I’m a woman
Phenomenally
(from Maya Angelou's "Phenomenal Woman")
When a woman grows older, certain markers are inevitable--the hair turns gray and sometimes the body shrinks an inch or two. Wrinkles may--or may not--appear. An ailment or two may show up.
My mother turns 96 today. Based on photos from Bob and Jocelyn, she is still as ageless as she was the last time we were together--Christmas of 2019. But she's the only person I know who is up early every single day. When I call her, she's either walking or reading or "just sitting here listening to music."
On road trips, we always stopped in little galleries, shops, and cafes. As we talked to people we met, she loved to drop her age into the conversation. "I'm only 92," she'd say with that fire of mischief in her eyes--because we both knew what was coming: widened eyes and "Wha-a-a-a-t???? You can't be!"
Before her accident 3 Christmases ago, she drove to Athens and Perry whenever she felt like it; now--due to COVID and all--she mostly drives around Lawrenceville--to the grocery store and church and "Mission Impossible"--my daddy's name for the beauty shop.
Her hair's been a beautiful solid white for decades, but thanks to Mimi's genes and Pond's Cold Cream, she has pretty skin and has managed to hold most ailments at bay. When people ask her, "How do you do it?" she tells them "an orange a day," or "gratitude," or "growing up on a farm and eating organic...."
She's had a pacemaker for nearly 20 years and she had her appendix removed as a child, but mostly she has all her original parts. Her 96-year-old knees still squat! She puts drops in her eyes every night and her recent glaucoma report was excellent.
We look forward to a post-COVID time when we can get back on the road again--when she can come here and I can go there. But we keep our cell phones humming along in the meanwhile and "play like" we're together in the same room.
Happy Birthday to my energetic, optimistic mother (and friend)--who makes aging look easy!
Freda is the Person of the Day in mine and Luci's books.
Even though she's never called herself a "dog person," Freda has taken Luci on as a borrower pup, and Luci looks forward to her walks with Freda. I'd say they've definitely moved into each other's hearts. They walked--as they often do, and Luci jumped on her, as she always does, crazed with affection. That set the tone for a very relaxing day for me--reading a good book and watching a movie, both recommended by Freda.
Julianna Margulies' memoir, The Sunshine Girl. This memoir describes Julianna's life--fractured by some standards--and the ways that she became an actor because of the way she grew up. I spent today enjoying the book and a delightful movie ....
City Island, starring Julianna, Andy Garcia, Alan Arkin, and Emily Mortimer, a perfect movie for a summer day!
Back to School pictures from Virginia and Helotes;
I'd been nervous about the challenges of this weekend--driving solo two nights in a row to places outside the usual neighborhood comfort zone. I, whose shtick is solo travel, who's traveled solo to the west coast, the east coast, and back roads all over America--was ready to admit that all that was over.
I've been listening too much to the voices of doom, my own included. Driving at night is hard; driving in thick traffic is a thing of the past; we're old now, so let's buck up and face the new reality.
On Friday night, I drove to Nathan's first high school band performance--for which he's been preparing all summer. I parked in one of the blue spaces for which I have a tag and walked to the bleachers. Elena spotted me and helped me up the stairs.
When the band started playing, as I watched Nathan on the front row with his bass drums and a big smile on his face, I knew that moment was worth the hour long drive each way.
Last night, I drove to Bandera for the kids rodeo. It was to start at five, but when I left at 8:30, Elena's events hadn't even started yet. Still--it was a wonderful day, very Texas. The sun dropped and the golden nearly-full moon rose and I got to see lots of roping and watch the kids riding their horses and ponies behind the field between events.
I felt happy driving home under a big fat moon last night. And though I'm a bit exhausted--not from the doing it but from the worry that I couldn't--I'm glad to be back in my saddle again!
Today was launch day for millions of our grandchildren. My oldest and youngest were among them.
Jackson drove last night to a house he's sharing with three friends in Richmond to begin his sophomore year at VCU. Twenty in October he's raring to start on-site college along with so many classmates who missed a real high school graduation in 2020 and spent their first college year studying at home.
Driving out the driveway--for him, the happy beginning of a whole new chapter; for his mama and daddy and brother, not so much. Leaving day is always hard!
Meanwhile, Elena is starting 4th grade with Meet The Teacher Night in Helotes--the elementary school of her dad and Aunt Day. Ten in January, she's taking dance and riding rodeo Saturday night in Bandera. This girl loves school and I hope she'll be inspired in this colorful classroom!
I worry about children, especially in a state where Texas Governor Wimp-O has COVID (and is getting the best treatment politics can buy) but still won't back down on his refusal to allow a mask mandate for children too young to get vaccinated.
Even while I'm doing other things, worry whirs around in the back of my mind. Day (academic coach at Marcus' high school) and all four of my grandchildren will be back in classrooms and hallways this year, and it's hard to not worry.
Nathan begins high school as a drummer in the band and Marcus returns for his junior year writing for the school newspaper.
Remembering my own back-to-school years--as a student and a teacher--I know that it's an exciting time. I'm trying to replace worry with hope that it will be a really good year for all our kids and grands.
We all leave breadcrumbs along the trails for other people--as other people leave them for us. An act of kindness or generosity or something related to our work--we rarely remember the things that make a difference to those who pick up our breadcrumbs.
A couple of weeks ago, I decided to try a different kind of physical therapy--myofascial release therapy.
The therapist, Belinda, gave me the best treatment I've had since surgery. Instead of feeling sore and achey, I felt pain-free and energetic for a couple of days.
Under 43 years of aging, we recognized each other--she'd been a student in my 6th grade English class when I was teaching at Horace Mann Middle School!
She moved my legs in great big circles and said, "You have wonderful range of motion in your hips."
"Who me?" I said--as if someone else were in the room. I'm accustomed to the regular physical therapists being unimpressed with my movements and my progress and here she was using the word "wonderful" in regard to my motion?
Just as I was making mental notes of all the things she was teaching me that no one else had even mentioned, she said, "You were my best teacher ever. You inspired me to write, to be creative. I still have what I wrote in 6th grade."
We both had tears in our eyes. The tables were turned--Belinda my teacher.
Recently, a woman walking her big dog said, "Your dog has a resplendent tail!" While I know the word, I don't believe I've ever used it, certainly not heard it as a descriptor for a tail. And so I looked it up:
Late Middle English from Latin resplendent- ‘shining out’, from the verb resplendere, (expressing intensive force) + splendere ‘to glitter’.
For such a small dog, she does indeed have a tail that looks like it belongs on a big dog--thick and white and "shining out."
She also has a look of mischief in her eyes. One day last week, I left the pantry door open. Shortly thereafter, I heard a crinkly sound. Went to look and found she'd taken out her red bag of Pup-Peroni treats and was having herself a Pup-Peroni party on the rug.
Yesterday on a walk, we wound up in a large green space with hills. Even though it wasn't entirely fenced in, I decided to take her off leash and see what she'd do. She ran around and around (with glittery joy), up and down, in doggie heaven, her resplendent tail wagging wildly. Even though it made me a bit nervous, it was wonderful to see her in her element, wild for a while, not tethered to a leash, running like the wind.
I've always loved the shapes, colors, and textures of vegetables. In my more artsy past, I enjoyed playing with them as rubber stamps and subjects of photography. In my more cookery past, I even enjoyed slicing them, sautéing them, and roasting them.
Just read a post by Austin Kleon about printing on paper with vegetables. It reminded me of vegetables and it reminded me of printing--two things I've not been closely acquainted with these past few months.
Printing with vegetables is easier than cooking. Just slice an onion, garlic, or pepper, anything you like, use it as a rubber stamp, and voila!
I've discovered Blake brand chicken pot pie, organic and delicious, and it includes a few peas and carrots and potatoes. Central Market has so many good meal options for one--usually involving nothing but heating and eating--that I rarely (as in can't remember the last time) do actual cooking.
I was a pretty good cook when my children were growing up, and tried new recipes almost every night. But even then, the most pleasure with vegetables was aesthetic. I'll never forget little-boy Will asking, when he came home from school one day and saw an assortment of bagels and tomatoes on the counter, "Hey Mom, are these to eat or take pictures of?"
Since Elena was little, she has helped her parents in their real estate business--handing out papers and greeting participants in workshops they've led and giving tours of houses to prospective renters and buyers.
Today she went to City Hall with her parents who were rezoning a property and she met the mayor. Will said the two of them talked about rezoning and the upcoming school year. Mayor Ron and others encouraged her to run for city council when she's old enough.
Today Elena spent the day with me while her parents were doing errands. What a love! She wanted me to take a picture of her peeking through the mail slot "like I used to do when I was little."
Then I snapped Luci and Elena looking out the window together. Whenever I have to leave Luci, this is her perch until I come home.
Janet and Val came over for a visit, too, and Janet brought me an extraordinary gift--a portrait of Luci done by our artist friend in L.A. Roné Prinz.
She really captured Luci with her one ear up and one ear down and her bright brown eyes.
Here are Janet, Val and Luci--the furry girls are, as usual, engaged in rowdy dog-play!
