Observables #14
on atomic tangerine coats, slow walking and the beauty of the binge
Red coat season is back (or is it atomic tangerine?) with the rain coat I purchased at a writing festival in Portland, Oregon because it was raining and I needed to escape the writers! It’s one of my favourite purchases (although Simon likes to remind me that the coat can only handle a delicate drizzle, so it isn’t what it claims to be). But nevermind that. I like the person I am in this coat: bold, intrepid, whimsical—all the things I fancy about myself when I’m not wracked with self-doubt.
I could have bought it in purple (or electric violet), which would have made me an entirely different kind of person?
Also, this is the outfit I put together for our first dinner out in two years. Every time I wear this shirt, Elsie affirms me that knits are in. I can’t tell you how satisfying it is as a mother to have your tween affirm you. VERY SATISFYING.
Lastly, on the subject of clothes, Violet wonders if I grow out of my robe will I end up showing my bootie to everyone? Out of the mouths of babes.
Simon and I finally found a new show: Goliath, because he’s doesn’t do Scenes From a Marriage and I don’t do Blind Spot. We binged until 2 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday which is not usual for us, and now we are both paying the price. He is forcing a rebound by engaging ketosis mode: only nuts and coconut oil; I am observing at a safe distance . . . with my toast.
The other thing I have been watching: Eileen, our local crossing guard, preparing for her shift. I land at the cross walk at 3 p.m. when she’s just warming up at the pace of a three-toed sloth. I’m still waking up, she says when I’m halfway across and it has just occurred to her to look up. Of course, I say. I’m tempted to stop and engage more, to ask her about where she goes when she’s so deep in thought, to affirm her measured, moderate approach to the crossing-guard experience. I know she’ll be fully awake by the time the kids arrive. But her style will still be her own: a delicate dance that bemuses the on coming cars. So different from the crossing guard up the way, who has the street locked down. I would rather orbit Eileen’s world, to join her for slow time; I too want to find moments for languid living.
Rebecca Solnit’s letter to a young reader about the beauty of books. Do you know brainpickings? The creator of the site, Maria Popova, has provided an amazing resource to dive deep into books and their interconnectedness. Start here perhaps. It will take you down a fascinating rabbit hole.
As always our next episode of Sister On! comes out tomorrow. Our first call in show! Hope you will listen.