Reversibles

~ MaryG ~ 7 Comments

If you were forced to wear one outfit over and over again, what would it be?

I bought a reversible skirt at a boutique last summer and I wear it a lot. I love that one garment gives you two different looks. Also, the waist is completely adjustable (from size 2-12), so no need to toss it, if I lose or gain weight. It goes with all different color T-shirts and is made of a very comfortable cotton.

Here I am in the blue/green side at my son’s graduation.
The pink side is fun too.

The skirt is 100% cotton, made in India. The boutique owner, Sally, is delightful. She named her boutique Apsara after the supernatural female beings in Hindu mythology. She was inspired by a visit to the Angkor Wat Hindu-Buddhist temple complex in Cambodia.

An apsara image from Pexels

So anyway, I’d want my one and only outfit to be reversible!

If you’re ever in downtown Portsmouth, New Hampshire, check out Apsara at 130 Congress Street.

Bucket List

~ MaryG ~ 8 Comments
Daily writing prompt
What countries do you want to visit?
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Speaking of buckets…way to go Boston Celtics! 🏀☘️ NBA championship #18.

This morning’s Boston Globe

I started a Bucket List (I’ve heard some say “Life List”) in the notepad app on my phone a couple years ago. I update it whenever the mood strikes. Sometimes a TV show, movie or book will shake up the order. For example, I read a book called “Independent People” by Haldór Laxness (a Nobel prize winner in literature) which resulted in Iceland getting booted from my list.

Here’s the latest version:
Grand Canyon ✅
Paris ✅
Finger Lakes & Hot Air Balloon ✅
Tanglewood
Yellowstone National Park
Ireland
NYC comedy club or SNL
Southern Italy (Naples; Amalfi Coast; Cinque Terra) and maybe Sicily
Sweden
Return to Paris in warmer weather and see the sites we missed
Argentina?
Return to SoCal – LA/San Diego; Santa Monica; Venice Beach; Yosemite; Joshua Tree?
Key West
Austin TX
Greece
Acadia National Park

An image from my last trip to LA (you know, the city that’s won 17 NBA championships)
The year was 1988 and George H.W. Bush was on the ballot.

My friend Julie (the eventual artist) made sure we visited the Watts Towers in South Los Angeles.

The famous Watts Towers in LA—a renegade 33-year folk art project by Italian immigrant construction worker and tile mason Simon “Sam” Rodia
Apparently some part of it was closed that day, but we got the idea. It’s very cool—a labor of love.

Watts Towers State Park

Birthday card

~ MaryG ~ 9 Comments
Daily writing prompt
What’s your favorite thing about yourself?
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Oh gosh, this is an uncomfortable prompt.

Did I ever mention that I have double-jointed thumbs?

I liked a birthday card I got from my husband this year. The pre-printed inside says “Nobody does you like you do.”

The outside is a little felt banner.

I’ll take it

Waxing gibbous

~ MaryG ~ 8 Comments
Daily writing prompt
How do you want to retire?
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Waxing gibbous moon around 4:30pm yesterday

From WikiHow:

  • During the waxing gibbous moon phase, the moon’s illumination is increasing with more than half of its surface being lit up. This is the phase before a full moon.
  • The waxing gibbous moon signifies the final stretch of completing a project. It is the phase for knocking off tasks and tying up loose ends.

Maybe this is a good metaphor for retirement. Try to go out on a high note—building to your full power. Maybe retirement should be the time when you become the best, fullest, most authentic version of yourself.

My piano’s big birthday

~ MaryG ~ 10 Comments
Daily writing prompt
What’s the oldest thing you own that you still use daily?
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My piano is turning 50 this year and I still use it—maybe not daily, but weekly during the church year. I use it mostly to learn and practice my choir music.

Thanks to this prompt, I looked in my piano bench and discovered paperwork documenting that my parents purchased the piano on September 10, 1974. I was nine. They bought it so that my sister and I could take lessons. I took lessons for about six years with a couple of different teachers. I really liked playing the piano. I think I enjoyed it more after I stopped taking lessons. Then I could play what I wanted and nobody was nagging me to practice. I liked playing pop songs and singing along.

When my husband and I bought our first house, my parents gave me the piano because I was the only one who played it. They paid real piano movers to bring it to my house. My daughter took lessons on it.

When we moved to our second house, I had regular movers take the piano with the rest of our stuff and it got slightly damaged, but nothing major. My daughter took several more years of lessons on it after the move.

So here’s to you old friend. I promise to get you tuned for your birthday.

A well-used book of sheet music – nearly as old as the piano. I’m not sure who the “Do Not Remove” was directed at, but I guess it worked.

Westport

~ MaryG ~ 6 Comments

Describe one of your favorite moments.

We were lucky to have close friends with a beautiful beach house while my kids were growing up. It’s near the loveliest beach. The water gets really warm in August. One year, my daughter had a waterproof/underwater camera. Photos from that visit always make me happy.

Ocean, Sun, Joy, Love, Floating Happiness

August 2010