random thoughts – Day 1,243 – (Saturday) – pieces

Remnants.

The house, which is usually quiet, is extra quiet with no pets. There is no occasional clinking of the metal ID tag on the water bowl, no little yips and sighs from a dreaming fur baby, no scratches at the door to go out or to come inside. The water bowl and remainder of Winston's Friday breakfast were emptied this morning and set in the dishwasher.

There are other things still to deal with like the remaining half of the 17-plus pound bag of pricey prescription food. Plus bowls, beds, sweaters, disposable toddler diapers, and doggy wraps. Not to mention the kitchen drawer stuffed with pet brushes, leashes, harnesses, poop bags, and multiple clippers. Just not today. Do I keep some of it in case there is a future similarly sized canine companion?

Or have I already lived enough of my life saving space for imagined future events and living beings (human and otherwise)? For three years I held on to a pair of men’s dress shoes, bought on a whim at a bargain price for a photo prop, with the underlying hope of magically manifesting the man who had the style and confidence to fill them (true story). It didn't work.

There is a closet full of clothes for “in case” I’m ever invited to a fancy [fill in name of event that never transpired] by a [still unmet person/soul mate/paramour]. The line of thinking that includes “in case I need it someday” is part of the reason that there is one room in the house that is crammed with stuff and unusable.

The slow and extra quiet morning was spent with coffee, Italian cookies for breakfast, a phone call with Mom, and rattling around the newly too empty house. There is suddenly no reason to stand in the middle of the yard or at the front doorway, and this morning I realized how frequently that activity took place. By the time I finally got dressed it was nearly time to leave for the reception. The closet wheel of fortune spun and landed on a summer dress I forgot I owned and haven’t worn in a couple years. It was clean and it fit, the most important criteria in any day's attire decision, so there was a winner.

Quilts from "Flower Power."

The day’s schedule included a reception for the “Flower Power” quilt exhibit at The Brush, and it was a lucky coincidence that my dress was covered in brightly colored flowers that fit the theme of the show. 

The quilts are amazing, and I have great admiration for people who can conceive and execute such works. The stitching was so precise. One piece included accents of perfectly placed tiny shimmery seed beads. Art quilts go far beyond grandma’s repeating block pattern scrap quilt. Some look like paintings from a distance, and others convey sculptural qualities. So cool.