Saturday, November 18, 2017

Saturday

Remember the ad about how you can "let your fingers do the walking through the Yellow Pages?" No need to go from store to store in search of just the right sweater for your sweetie. Call first! Spare yourself the bother of shopping. Or at least searching. Use the phone book's Yellow Pages!

Ha! What an old fashioned concept!

Or is it?

Several weeks ago, I was telling Snowdrop's teacher (the same one that is leaving to teach in Egypt) that I had purchased something online for the little girl and it didn't fit. She thought for a while, then said -- you know, I don't think I have ever bought anything online.

That gave me pause.

I would say that apart from grocery shopping, 90% of my buying is with the help of the internet. Sure, I don't have stores within walking distance. Would it be different if I didn't live in the country?

Shopping in Wisconsin at this time of the year is not pleasant. The stores are full of very grumpy people (I did not bother detailing on Ocean my encounters with unhappy shoppers during last week's purchase of a new computer -- so much angst, so little patience!). And then there is the weather...

This morning, for example, we woke up to the first (wet, but very real) snow outside.


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Even the birds were surprised.


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Oh, sure, it melted quickly enough...


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But man oh man, it felt cold! And dark enough that we ate breakfast with lamps glowing.


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(The chickens took it in stride.)


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And so Ed and I proceeded to snuggle in comfortable reclining positions in the living room. He worked, I shopped. Online, checking off holiday gift after gift, indeed -- letting my fingers do the walking.


There was a welcome break. Right around noon, I was to meet the young couple and my daughter's super awesome visiting college friend (and various important to this group others) for brunch downtown.

I adore my daughters' friends and especially the ones who have been part of the fabric of their lives for the past decade, or even more. In my experience, these young people are engaged. They haven't given up on the world -- they still have passion for it. Too, they're funny. As are my girls and their husbands: they share a take on life that is uniquely different from ours. And I love it!



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There is beauty to this day for sure. At brunch. But too, spending that quiet afternoon afterwards at the farmhouse: Ed is clicking away on his machine, I'm clicking away on mine. It's warm inside. At some later hour he says -- look outside! The sky is so pretty!  And I say -- let's order sushi for dinner. And we do. And it is so delicious! I throw out some words about how good this day is. Ed responds with his usual "alright, gorgeous." I smile. Secretly, he does too.