Here's a difference between Ed and me (one of many): Ed was raised in the heart of New York City. Sure, his family spent summer weeks in upstate New York, and in his young adulthood he sequestered himself in a shack in a forest in Tennessee for many months, but really, he was thoroughly a city boy. And then, later in life, as he neared 50, he moved to the farmette. It was a complete flip for him: like a switch shutting off the power grid, he woke up with his urban soul turned off. He became a country boy. There is nothing about city life that appeals to him. Really, I can't think of a thing.
For me, if someone asked are you more of a city person or a country person, I'd say that it's like asking if I'm more Polish or American. The truth is, I take on the mood of the place I'm in. I was more Polish until I moved to New York. Then, again, I was more Polish in high school in Warsaw. Now, living as I do here, for 50 years straight, I am obviously more American. It's not even close. Still, when I go back to Poland, I feel that Polish water engulfing me once again. I'm still American and I check into a hotel using American documents and most often I choose to relate to the clerks in English (which is sort of bizarre, but I cant help it), but I feel that same pulse of Polish history and culture as the Polish person walking on the street past me. I cannot ever completely let go of my Polishness.
And it's the same with city versus country. I was born in the city, but lived the first few years in the deep Polish countryside. I spent summers there. I felt the seasonal change in forests and meadows, along riverbanks and fields of wheat. And yet, My formative years were in the city. New York, Warsaw, New York, Chicago.
And now, here I am in the country again, with a country wardrobe of roughed up shoes and summer shorts and sweatshirts rather than nice sweaters, and snow boots rather than sleek leather shoes. And when it's time to visit a city -- I am at a loss. Do 71 year old women wear shorts on hot days in the city? Do I need sandals instead of rubber flipflops (which I hose down before entering the house, because they are always dirty, as are, therefore, my feet).
I'm going to be visiting a whole bunch of big cities in the next couple of weeks. I mentioned this earlier here, on Ocean. And every few days it strikes me that I am quite unprepared for that much city. The absence of sandals in my closet was just one example.
All this to say that this morning, after doing the dirty business of lily snipping (only 285 today! yay!), after picking off a few weeds and watering the tubs of annuals, after taking just a few photos...
I sat down to breakfast, alone, because Ed was on a Zoom call and I knew it would take a very long time for him to come down...
After all that, I filled a bucket in the kitchen sink with soapy water, I brought down nail trimming gear and a bottle of rather colorless nail polish, and I attacked my feet. Because, you see, if you do get sandals (mine should arrive in the mail today!), your toes will be exposed, and country toes do not look good on city streets.
It took forever!
I cant even remember when I had the last professional pedicure. Maybe never? Sure, I take showers, I clip nails to some short form, I keep clean. But my summer country feet are forever working away in the flower fields and that look of countryness stays with them. I had to take charge and attempt that metamorphosis -- from country back to city.
By the time I finished (and a sharp eye will note that my feet are not completely country-free!) it was time to pick up the kids. Unbelievable how time flies when you're trying to juggle identities and fit one into a mold you think will be a correct one, given your surroundings! [I will admit that the other day I also took out the ironing board and ironed a pair of linen pants for my upcoming travels! Last time I ironed clothing? When I was still teaching, so maybe ten years ago. And I only think I ironed then! I must have! Teaching has a huge performance component to it and looking frumpy doesn't exactly give you stature in law students' eyes, unless you're a white male and then you can get away with anything.]
Okay, hi kids!
It's hot today! We dont dally outside for long. We do the usual, with perhaps a little more play today. Feeling frisky!
Toward evening, kids are gone, Ed is biking. And I take out my bike too. Just for half an hour, but I missed the feel of a warm sun on my back as I bike past prairie fields.
And when I come back, I see that my new sandals have arrived. And of course, perhaps predictably, they do not fit. And so instead of making supper, I get into the car and drive to a shoe store because it's either that or wear rubber flip flops along city streets for the next two weeks.
(success!)
You could say that this day was all about feet. Weird, but true.
with love...
