I spent yesterday pretty much at home, doing laundry and cleaning and putting things in order. I even washed the windows! It was good to have some down time. I endeavored not to take the dog on a walk, but she insisted, jumping up, staring at me and quivering in anticipation whenever I shifted position on the couch.
So we went to the cemetery, where the Queen Anne's lace (or is it cow parsley? I can never tell the difference) is blooming in profusion.
On our way home we passed a house under renovation (I think?) where this panel of wall tiles has been lying in the front yard, next to the street, for a year. I photographed it exactly a year ago today, in fact. I would salvage those dragon tiles if I could figure out how to get them off the panel without breaking them. I'm not sure it's possible.
At home, a mysterious Amazon package arrived containing a tree sloth tea infuser from my old high school friend, Kevin. (Back in high school, my then-girlfriend Barbara began calling herself Panda Bear, and I figured if she could have a spirit animal then so could I -- and I chose Tree Sloth.) You put the tea in the sloth's body and he hangs on the side of the cup, infusing the tea into the water. I haven't actually tried it yet, but it's a fun idea, and Wonder Woman approves.
In the afternoon I watched "The Moon-Spinners," a 1964 Disney movie with Hayley Mills that I loved as a child. I remember seeing it on "The Wonderful World of Disney" on Sunday night television, and it really stayed with me. It's a yarn about jewel thieves set in Crete, and I yearned to travel to such an exotic locale, with canvas windmills, and overloaded buses full of chickens and goats, and the blue Aegean Sea. I don't think I've seen the film for 20 years or so, and even though I have since been to Crete and some of that mystery is gone (and the buses no longer contain chickens and goats), it's still fun to watch. I tried to share it with Dave, but true to form, he fell asleep within the first 15 minutes.
I've never seen that film though I enjoyed Hayley Mills in the Parent Trap at some point. We did not have Disney on Sunday night when I was growing up overseas...Sounds like it was a productive and enjoyable bank holiday.
ReplyDeleteI loved Hayley Mills in "Whistle Down the Wind" - a peculiarly English film, set in Yorkshire and in black and white. You should see it Steve. Maybe Dave would stay awake for that one.
ReplyDeleteCharlie Bostock: It isn't Jesus. It's just a fella.
So funny you chose the cute tree sloth as you spirit totem. It's the antithesis of your industrious nature in a way. And how great that your friend remembers. People who hold our history gently in memory are dear friends to have.
ReplyDeletedogs will have their walks. Minnie watches me like a hawk. if I put my phone and wallet in my pockets, she's up. once she sees my putting on my shoes, she dashes out to wait by the car thinking that we are going for a ride. anyway, I don't consider house cleaning to be downtime.
ReplyDeleteI don't consider housecleaning to be downtime either! I love the sloth. As I get older I feel more and more like a sloth. I am still productive but so much slower.
ReplyDeleteInteresting how the cemetery is overgrown with grass and the markers look as if they will fall over.
ReplyDeleteI think I recognize that cemetery. I love the tree sloth. I can't believe those tiles have been laying there all that time. It sounds like the construction or renovations have stalled.
ReplyDeleteI read The Moon-spinners when I was quite young; it was one of the first adult-level books I read. I loved it but now I can't remember any of it! I'll have to re-read it.
ReplyDeleteI can just see Olga vibrating in anticipation of a walk! I can't keep Queen Anne's lace and cow parsley straight either.
I want that sloth
ReplyDeleteApropos of really nothing in your post except the love of travel, I have a friend and his wife who recently spent some vacation time in Morocco! They stayed one night in a huge tent in the desert when a sandstorm blew up.
ReplyDeleteE: Interestingly, I never saw "The Parent Trap" until years later -- even though that's probably Hayley's most famous movie.
ReplyDeleteYP: I've never seen that movie, but it sounds intriguing! Definitely a future rental!
37P: It's funny that you say that. I don't feel industrious. In fact I often feel quite slothfull!
Ellen: I always feel guilty if I move and the dog jumps up expectantly! You're right about cleaning -- it's not really downtime. But I've always regarded cleaning as recreation. I actually enjoy it. Which is weird, I know.
Ms Moon: Isn't there a book called "In Praise of Slowness," or something like that?
Red: I've found that British cemeteries are nothing like their manicured American (or Canadian, perhaps) counterparts. They tend to be quite wild and the tombstones can be topsy-turvy. I like it!
Sharon: Yes, that's the cemetery!
Jenny-O: I read it too. Mary Stewart. The one thing I remember from the book is that Madame Habib walks around with a cheetah on a leash. In the movie, she has a cheetah, but it's not leashed -- it's lounging on a pillow.
John: Amazon! (I mean the web site, not the river basin, though you can probably find them either place.)
Catalyst: You know, even though I spent two years in Morocco, I never made it out to the dunes. They were a long way from where I lived. We got sandstorms -- or more accurately in our case, dust storms -- a lot, though.