WoodStork of Zenith

[ismo]

I talked to Queenie today instead of yesterday. Not a very cheerful convo in some ways. She's really at the end of her rope with her stomach issues etc. Still, it's always good to talk to her. Then the Sparrowhawk and I dressed ourselves up a little bit and went to a tea shop that opened recently. We got a high tea with the fancy sandwiches, scones, and everything. We had already decided we were going to talk about which three children's books we would take to a desert island--choosing a topic to avoid gloomy themes! Everything was fancy, and most of the other patrons had dressed up a bit too. There was a table of three older ladies wearing elaborate hats. They reminded me of the church ladies who show up when Cary Grant and Loretta Young are having lunch in "The Bishop's Wife," and nearly ruin their good time before Cary Grant invites them over and beguiles them with drinks and charm. Then came two young ladies dressed in very Regency styles, right down to the ringlet hairdos and cameo chokers. One of them could have passed for naughty Lydia Bennett--if only a Wickham in uniform had appeared to carry her off. A pair of chunky sneakers peeking from beneath the diaphanous skirts was the only discordant note. If she had been approached by a disreputable seducer, she could have run like the wind--whether away from or toward his embrace is anyone's guess.

We had a terrible time keeping the list down to three. We kept thinking of more and more books. In the end, I picked "Heidi," "The Secret Garden," and "The Wind in the Willows." The Sparrowhawk chose "Champion Dog Prince Tom," "Rusty's Space Ship," and "Have Space Suit, Will Travel," which he squeezed in because it does say it's a "juvenile." Who knows what we'd choose tomorrow . . . I had so much trouble leaving out "Kidnapped" and "Black Beauty." Really, one should choose "Two Little Savages" by Ernest Thompson Seton, and "Swiss Family Robinson," because they have so many useful tips on how to live in the woods. But one can't let practicality rule everything. Let's say this is a nice desert island with some comfy couches.

Still hot as blazes, and very dry. We long for rain. I sit around singing verses from "Saskatchewan": "We sit and gaze across the plains
And wonder why it never rains,
Till Gabriel blows his trumpet sound
To say 'The rain, she's gone around!'"

I think the smoke has moved back in. Tonight I had something very like an asthma attack, and since using my rescue inhaler restored my ease of breathing, I think it must have been one.

Comments

[oracne]

Hooray for high tea! I'd probably go for The Wind in the Willows, The Swiss Family Robinson, and The Secret Garden. The first two were childhood favorites we had at home, which I read approximately one million times each. The Secret Garden is one I finally read in college.