It's a Look

I bought my first pair of sunglasses when I was ten. We were visiting some friends who had moved from New Jersey (where we lived) to Huntington Beach, CA. Their house had a pool in the backyard and was just a mile from the beach, and I thought the blue lens aviator shades I got for two bucks at the Sav-on were a perfect look for that vibe.

Sadly, the first time I wore them to the beach, a wave washed them right off my face, and I never saw them again. I thought of those sunglasses a few years ago when aviators flew back in style, but by then I was committed to another retro model, Ray-Ban Wayfarers. Even so, when I saw Jamie Lee Curtis as a teen trapped in a grandma's body, ironically rocking aviator eyeglasses in Freakier Friday, I wondered if my reading glasses could use an update.

Heidi laughed when the three pairs I ordered were delivered yesterday, and scoffed when I offered her a pair. "But how do they look on me?"I asked, and she diplomatically told me that although she wouldn't choose them for me, they didn't look bad. 

If only they had blue lenses, I'm sure she'd love them!

Let’s Go Hachiko

Heidi had a first-week-back workshop at a community center a little less than a mile from our house, and when they informed the attendees that they would have to order lunch on their own to be delivered, she texted me. 

"I'll bring you lunch," I replied. "What time?"

So, a little after 11:30, Lucy and I set out on a walk and a quest to deliver Heidi's homemade lunch. We met her outside the center, grabbed a picnic table on the grounds, and visited as Heidi enjoyed her veggie wrap and watermelon cubes. When it was time for her to return, we walked around to the front entrance to see her inside. As Heidi disappeared through the heavy double doors, Lucy was rather alarmed, and when we turned to go? She put on the brakes. 

Unfortunately, no amount of reassurance could change her mind, and that stubborn dog clung to her conviction that we had left an essential member of our pack behind as I literally dragged her all the way home.

I won't make that mistake again!

Empty Nesters

Today was the first day back for teachers in our district, and so after Heidi headed off for work, I went out to do some errands. My first stop was a grocery store in a neighboring county where school for students actually started today, and I was surprised to see how crowded it was, especially since I've shopped there on Monday mornings at least once a month since I retired.

When I arrived, it was approaching lunchtime, and the cafe was packed. As I passed through, I noticed the clientele included many people who likely had school-aged kids. The aisles, too, were filled with young-ish people and couples shopping together, but no kids were in sight.

At the register, making small talk with the cashier, I noted how busy it seemed.

"Really busy for a Monday!" she agreed.

"And school started today!" I added.

"That's why," she told me. "They took the day off, dropped their kids at school, and came to get their groceries without having to worry about the kids."

It was a solid theory.

Bee Plus

There was a bee buzzing around in the plastic clamshell package of squash blossoms when I picked it up at the farmer's market this morning. Naturally, I opened the container and set it free. Then I decided to buy those blossoms, since they were the plumpest, which is why I picked them up in the first place. 

As I carried them to the line, I caught the eye of another shopper who had witnessed the whole episode. "I had to let it go!" I shrugged. "And these were the best ones."

"And you know they're pollinated," she laughed.

Small Fry Talk

"What's your favorite color?" he asked her as he floated on a kickboard in the shallow end. 

She stood on the pool deck, lean and tan in her pink bathing suit. "What's yours?" she challenged him.

"Blue," he replied.

Blue is my fourth favorite color," she told him, cooly.

Her brother ran over, a hooded Piccachu towel on his head. "I like black!" he shouted. "Black, black, black! I'm..." he turned dramatically flouncing his cape, "Blackman!"

Heidi raised her eyebrows. We were eavesdropping on the neighbor kids as we treaded in the deep water. "He probably shouldn't call himself that," she commented.

I agreed. "If Emily was here she might go tell him that black isn't a color," I added.

"Is yours pink?" the boy in the pool asked the girl on the side.

"No, it's red," she told him.

"Well, pink is red plus white," he said, "so I was close." He paused thoughtfully. "Did you know your favorite color is famous in China?"

She wasn't impressed.

"It is," he assured her, "Red and gold are famous in China." He fell off his board and went underwater. 

Conversation over.

Room 105

Even after she was offered the job, my friend wasn't sure she was ready to leave our old school after 32 years there as a teacher (and three more before that as a junior high student!). After a tough year, though, she thought a change might inject some new energy into her career, and Heidi was moving to the same school, too. Even so, up until the last week of school, she was still on the fence. 

Then she found out that her room number at the new school would be 105, which was the same as her first classroom at our school. We agreed it was a sign, and today I went over to help her unpack her boxes and set up the other room 105. While there, we were greeted by several former colleagues who had also transferred, including the principal, and a handful of very welcoming staff. 

My friend seemed visibly more relaxed than she has in a while, and I think she's going to have a great year!

Got it in One

I was sitting idly in my chair, looking for ways to kill time while the appliance repairmen worked on our fridge and dryer, when I decided to check out the online world geography challenge, Worldle, where players are challenged to identify the border map of a different country each day. In general, I'm not that accomplished at the game. Beyond the obvious ones, it usually takes me three or four guesses to narrow it down. And if it's a Pacific island? No way. So today, when presented with something that resembled a sea cucumber with a posse of amoebas, I surprised myself when I correctly recognized it as New Caledonia.

Later, I was trying to figure out how I knew that, and at first I considered an association to Little Caledonia, a tiny Scots-influenced gift shop in Georgetown that closed in 2002 after 50 years in business. They carried all sorts of pretty little knick-knacks and were always good for a last-minute Christmas or hostess gift. In 1988, in an article called "The Right Stuff and a Bit of the Wrong Stuff, Too," The Washington Post Magazine stated that "Walking into Little Caledonia is like entering Charles Dickens' Old Curiosity Shop."

But the map itself of New Caledonia looked so familiar to me that I felt it was more than just the name that jogged my memory. Then I remembered reading the novel Miss Benson's Beetle, the story of a teacher and amateur entomologist in post-WW II London who sets off to find the Golden Beetle of New Caledonia. It is a quirky tale, but one that had me studying the map of that French territory for a few days after I finished.

But how was a French territory named after Scotland, you may wonder. James Cook dubbed the island in 1774 because, to him, its landscape resembled the Scottish Highlands. The indigenous name of the island is Kanaky, however, from the Polynesian word "kanaka," meaning human. I like that better, but what are the chances of a shop named Little Kanaky ever opening in Georgetown?