Isn’t this the loveliest scarf? Lilly Pulitzer, Cape and Islands Murfee. Saw it on Facebook yesterday, let it sit on my laptop browser overnight, and then bought it today. Don’t need it. Probably can’t really afford it. Only been to Cape Cod once. But oh – it speaks to me. It tells me a colour story in blue, cool summer nights over a white t-shirt, enamel bangles and strappy sandals. Cold drinks with beads of condensation sliding down them, dripping onto bare feet and bright pedicures. The smell of salt on skin, the rock of a deck over water, warm pears fresh from the tree, lush gardens, the adirondack chairs leaving grooves on everyone’s bare legs. A fence full of damp towels, hydrangea heads so heavy they bow to the grass, lemon squeezed in a pitcher of ice water.
Nothing gets my heart racing like a home overflowing with books. People who read and cherish books are people with big imaginations: dreamers, and scientists alike, and people that keep books keep knowledge that can endure for centuries.As a kid, I designed libraries, sketching the plans in the back of my notebooks in school. Libraries with turrets, with rolling ladders, and with leather seats. Some had skylights, others had secret doors behind bookshelves. All of them were fabulous, I can assure you. As an adult, I take inspiration from these libraries, the people who built them, and the bloggers, like Bookshelves and Late Fees and Bookshelf Porn and F*ck Yeah, Books that dedicate themselves to blogging about bookshelves. I could spend HOURS pouring/drooling over the pics on those blogs!
A secret room behind a bookshelf. My childhood (and adulthood) dream!
I love when I read something that reminds me, inspires me, to take a moment, take a breath, take care of the people around me, and take care of myself. Today I read Melody’s post, We Must See Past What It Seems, over on the Bad Girls Club blog, and was reminded all over again how important it is that we take care of each other.
“…when a friend is quiet…or not showing up to stuff she usually shows up to….or acting a little “off”….or a family member is wearing pajamas to the grocery store for weeks on end……or not answering the phone…..or the lawn is not mowed…..IT IS A SIGN. It is not a sign that can be read in words and letters, but it is a sign that someone needs to be treated gently…that they need help….most of all, that they need love, understanding…and that they DEFINITELY DO NOT need to be judged.”
I wonder how many signs I have missed – the neighbor who moved away without a word, the impatient woman in line behind me at the grocery store. I wonder how many people I have judged, without considering their circumstances, and I am inspired to try a little harder this week to be kind.