While it certainly is not fall yet (gauging by the temperature, anyway), it has been a bit cooler than last week’s hinge-melting heat. Therefore, needing a respite from the office, I took my lunch to my secret little shaded park this afternoon. I really can’t recommend this enough – I spread a blanket on the grass, kicked off my shoes, and ate my lunch whilst listening to the splashing fountain. Why this pocket-sized park isn’t full of picnickers, I don’t know, but I certainly enjoyed it and I made sure to walk around barefoot on the soft grass for a few minutes.
While eating, I read a letter – yes, an actual one with stamps and everything – from my English pen pal. True fact – I have an English pen pal. It turns out that social media really still IS good for one or two things and groups of people looking for pen pals are one of the remaining delights of social media. You can find groups for all sorts of things, so I specifically sought out women about my age who had some similar interests. I sent her a letter of introduction, along with a watercolor postcard of seashells, and got back a delightful four-page handwritten letter with little treats. I honestly can’t wait to get to know her a little better.
And handwritten letters with airmail stickers let me imagine for a moment a life of elegant trans-Atlantic travel where civilized writing was a social norm.
I found another example of that in the lobby at work today. Like many City Halls, Gaffney’s has a few displays of old photographs, artifacts, and news clippings. I read one today spotlighting a gold-topped cane that had been given to a son (Henry) of Gaffney’s founder (Michael). Upon his death, the cane was given back to the daughter who had first given it to Henry. This daughter, Mrs. R. A. Robertson, was noted in the local paper as using the cane to “steady her steps as she glides down the stormy pathway of life.”
What a description of needing some assistance to get around!
Find your joy, Divas.
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