Windy Days

Today I walked up to the High Street. I had to mail a letter and I went to pick up a few things at the grocery store. I am trying to get more walking in these days for the exercise, and since the walk is mostly uphill and then uphill again, it is a really good workout. I know because I had a sweaty brow when I got there and it is a rather breezy day. LOL. I didn’t get out of breath though, so I held my own. I enjoyed the walk because this time of the year is my favorite with all of the leaves changing color. I love walking along and some of the leaves come showering down around you or fall like a path for your feet to follow as you make your way along. All of the golds, reds, and yellows are just beautiful.

When I made it to the High Street, I went inside the post office, got my postage and then dropped my letter in the big red mailbox outside. Then I walked around the corner to the grocery store. There is a wedding shop on the way and I always peek into the window to see what new things they have. I’ve been married a bit over two years now, so there is no need for a wedding dress. But it's still fun to look inside.

When I was a little girl I always had this “fantasy self” who loved the idea of traipsing around in a long dress. :-) I was fond of draping myself in my mom’s old dresses or old pieces of cloth strategically placed on me to look fabulous when I was a little girl. (laugh) I guess that some parts of the little girl are always there. I think that that is a good thing and we should always have the part of us that still daydreams no matter what our age. :-)

So I had a thing for long dresses when I was a kid, as I mentioned. And like many kids, I had a vivid imagination and was always dressing up and then I would put on plays for my dolls. Theatrical I was. :-) Anyway, I always loved to be in my dress-up finery when the wind blew. I would go out and stand dramatically on a tree stump or something, with my ponytails flying and my “fabulous gown” flowing in the wind. Once in a strong wind, I lost one piece of my dress and it landed in a bush. It was hilarious. :-)

So now fast forward to my wedding day and I had a full circle moment. We were married here in England. It was spring and the weather was pretty good. But there was a warmish breeze blowing that day and when Brit Boy and I were getting our pictures taken after the ceremony I had a memory of me as a girl. As we stood there on the golf course, with the wind whipping around us, I began to smile. My veil was flying out behind me like a mist and my dress swirled around my legs. And I thought to myself, “Well little girl, you finally got to stand in a dramatic wind with a long dress on and this time hopefully, part of your dress won’t land in that bush over there.” I laughed to myself and it helped me that day. I had just lost my mom a couple of months before and I was missing her and my dad on that day. But this thought brought me back, because I knew if my mom were alive, she would laugh along with me in remembering this. She saw me when I was a kid, doing all of my dress-ups and years later she mentioned it a few times when we would talk. She told me that she used to look out the window and see me and say to herself, “My child…my child…Lord she is creative…I’ll give her that.” :-)

So it was a good walk today. I got to do my shopping and I got to be a little girl for a minute. That ain’t half bad. :-)