On Our Way To Late Summer, Or, Saturday Morning at 8:49am

Here comes August! I wore this Graecove (now sadly defunct) linen dress and a pair of Veja sneakers for a 2-hour drive to inland California to see a possible wedding venue. A high of 104 degrees was predicted, so a dress it was, with laces to keep my shoes stable on my feet for the long drive. Sturdy Gals foevah. My pearl earrings matched my shoes; all was not lost.

BTW, it’s my daughter’s birthday, so I will take a minute to wish her Happy Birthday here with you. The wedding venue project continues.

Back to August. I will be taking the month off, as has become the custom on Privilege. When I return, if all goes according to plan I will have photos of a Swedish wedding and Norwegian fjords. Probably also closeups of my left thumb and videos of a strange chandelier given the standard phone fumbling.

And taking the month off brings me to last week’s post. Flo asked me if I ever groaned when writing these posts, and–very grateful to have been asked, as we are when someone indicates they care about our well-being–I said yes. But I do not want to leave you with the impression that I don’t want to be here. I do. I just don’t always know if I have anything I can say from my heart that serves you.

This blog started as a tiny personal blog that no one knew, turned into a style blog that a lot of people saw, and has evolved into a personal blog still read by many. I want to provide community and a modicum of delight, for you, but also for myself. But in this time in our history, the issues of our future and governance loom so large it’s often hard for me to say anything that isn’t a very loud, “HALP,” or “Are we kidding?” or “No no no no no no!” Or, occasionally, a “Maybe there’s hope after all.”

I don’t want to become just another yelling voice, and yet I feel these political currents so strongly. So I suppose what I try to do, when not analyzing the perfect shade of olive green, is encourage by example.  You know my political beliefs. Maybe I can show those of you who disagree with me just who we try to be on this side. And it can take more skill than I’ve got, often, to exemplify thoughtful, fairness and compassion, to say nothing of a certain aesthetic and midlife style. Being, in fact,  imperfect, the farthest thing from an icon of virtue. But I try.

It’s very Sturdy, to feel like we’re bound to try to do the best job we can. I imagine you may do the same. I have also learned, in going on 68 years, that the other Sturdy gal trait, simply showing up in the first place, may be even more important. We are more than the tasks we perform, the excellence we embody, the material value we provide. We’re humans, in bodies, living through time. We have faces, and gestures, a tone of voice, and a feel to our skin. As such, we are good for other people in ways we don’t and can’t even understand.

I’m glad to show up here. Even more than that, as I’ve said before, I’m glad and grateful you all show up. Here, of course, but wherever you are with the people and creatures that matter to you.

Back to August. Enjoy. See you in September.

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