Thursday, January 16, 2014

SUNSHINE ON A CLOUDY DAY

Right this moment, the sun is shining.

I'm grateful for that.

Helen asked me, "So, what are your 'sunny' thoughts right now?"

"Ummm, I'm not having many sunny thoughts right now."

I went to let the chickens out of the coop this morning. The wind was so blustery and cold that it raced right up my jeans legs and numbed my tookus. Brrrr! I'm not fond of cold.

I bent over to do some chore while I was outside, and - crunch! - smashed one of the eggs I had collected and stashed in my sweater pocket. The pocket with my phone in it.

So, I blow back into the house, shivering and chattering. Wash the three remaining eggs and put them away. Clean my gooey phone. Wad my sweater into the washing machine.

And discover I have a big globs of chicken poo on my shoes. Yuck! Why couldn't I have discovered that when I first came in the back door?

I've been looking online at mother-of-the-bride dresses. Apparently, manufacturers think Barbie has given birth to children and that she is now old enough for said children to be of marriageable age. Sigh. The models all look like Audrey Hepburn - rail thin and fresh-faced - and the dresses all look beautiful on them. This is not reality. I know better.

I tried on several beautiful dresses - potential mother-of-the-bride dresses - passed to me by friends. I did not look like Barbie. Or like Audrey Hepburn. I looked like the ballerina hippo from Disney's Fantasia. Without the beautiful music playing in the background.

Cold wind. Smashed egg. Chicken poo. Frothy, sparkly, beautiful, too-tight dresses. Nope, not many sunny thoughts happening.

"What about the white-faced calf?" Helen asked.

I smiled.

This little bugger is a joy to watch frolicking on the hill behind the house. He is easy to spot in the field - his bright, white face stands out like a flashing billboard against his silky black coat and against the gray of the frozen pasture.

He dances like a fairy on his short, spindly legs, chasing the other calves or running circles around his momma. Up the hill! Down the hill! Charge!

I don't think I have ever seen such a lively calf. I've been calling him Rocket.

Maybe, just for today, I'll call him Sunshine.

3 comments:

emily said...

Remember in That Hideous Strength, when the women were trying on dresses? and there were no mirrors?

We have this idea we build, from the world, and from our own dark eyes ...

i guess i just want to say that everyone that I know who knows YOU sees that you are beautiful.

You, and the calf, and the sun chuckling between the leafshadows...

Anonymous said...

Amen to Emily. You are a remarkable beautiful person. Don't believe anyone, including yourself, who says you arn't.Dad

Camille said...

Thank you for your sweet words, Emily! However, I am facing the grim reality that - mirrors or no - the zippers won't zip. I wish that I could be romping with Rocket in the leafshadows instead of trying to squeeze myself into too small dresses!