On being a girl

It is so lovely being a girl. I can't begin to imagine what life woud be like were I not a girl. Poor old boys don't have nearly half the fun. This morning, I woke on fire. Does that happen to boys? Well, it does to me frequently. I lay there imagining the most strict of discplinarians in my life, providing me with intense limits and once I had done that I was ready to greet the day.

It turned out to be a glorious morning. The birds were chirping away in merriment (there is very little bird life in Italty. I have no idea why...) and the sun was mild but warm creating the perfect light. And, I didn't feel jet lagged any more and when I looked in the mirror my face had lost that tired look. Why, I looked pretty good - skin glowing, eyes clear and bright. Yayayayay.

I thought about my day. It was...Tuesday. Maybe my husband and I would go to the market...maybe not...but I did have meditation class at 1.00 o'clock and I looked forward to getting back to that. Surprisingly, my concern about the work I had to do imminently had passed. I would certainly need to get it done and get it done in a timely way but it was do-able, I decided.

I thought about what to wear, and remembering that the weather forecast was for a warm 25 celcius degree day, I thought about what sort of summer outfit I wanted to wear. I remembered the dress I had bought in Venice.

We had been gliding along the narrow laneways on our way to San Marco from Dossidoro, my husband was on the phone and we walked past a small boutique with a navy blue linen dress on the mannequin at the door. The shop keeper had pinned a sign to the dress stating that it was reduced from 143 euros to 50 euros. I am not a hunter but I am a gatherer and I tapped my husband on the shoulder to say that I was going in. He followed me in but was standing in a separate part of the store to make his call.

Without a common language I pointed to the dress, the shopkeeper took it off the mannequin, pointed to the change room and I tried it on. It was a perfect fit I discovered when I came out to the mirror and I walked to my husband and asked in his ear, "Do you like this?". He nodded and within another minute I had handed over 50 euros and we were on our way. (I don't really like carrying money when I am with my husband, not wishing to make my own purchases, but a girl knows a bargain when she sees one. Trust me. She is born with this skill.)

When we got home from our trip I hand washed the dress and ironed it up (It is a very soft linen. It does crease but in a very soft way; quite unlike the sort of linen dress I have had before which put me off linen as a fabric.) and this morning when I put it on I was delighted with it. It actually has a French (tres jolie) feel to me; very feminine and very Spring and it made me feel very feminine and happy.

That prompted me to get out a more chunky set of pearls than I usually wear day to day and that again prompted me to put on a full apron that an old lady friend had made for me many years ago and which I keep to remember her.  It is decorated with a little lace on the sides and I felt very homely in it; very 1950s. It made me smile.

That prompted me to make blueberry pancakes and that made my son very happy. Suddenly, all the world looked and smelled and tasted great. Huuuummmm. Right here, right now, all is well in my world...

Do men have these lovely moments when the world feels so right....when your outfit makes you sing, and you feel prompted to do nice things for the people in your life? Do you think of a shirt you bought when you travelled and it conjurs up all sorts of romantic notions? Do you feel happy just because you woke up feeling alive and manly and vibrant? Or, is that why you have us around?