To mark her move to New York City, and on the eve of starting her residency, my niece cut her hair short last weekend. It was a nerve-wracking two-day odyssey, because the first stylist did an awful job, and my niece had to go back to the salon the next day to get the cut fixed by a second stylist. This one knew what she was doing, and the result is rather high glam. But until we arrived at this point, there was much texting back and forth between my niece, my daughter, and me, discussing how best to fix what felt to my niece like an unmitigated disaster. "Whoever said I am not my hair, lied!" she moaned. But it all worked out in the end, I'd say.
Meanwhile my son has been at camp for two weeks, training this year's lifeguards and hanging out with his friends in all that woodsy lakeside splendor where he spent most of his summers growing up. His girlfriend went up to join him for the weekend. She took lots of lovely pictures of the place, and a couple of my son that I've swiped from Facebook, because he's always more cooperative with her camera than he is with mine.
In other news my daughter's boyfriend completed his masters in engineering, and he and my daughter went back to their old stomping ground at Cornell for the graduation ceremony. Joe Biden was the commencement speaker, and he was wonderful and inspiring, I heard. They sure liked him a lot better than James Franco, who was their undergrad commencement speaker. Was that only last year?
Back in the city, we went out to dinner with the graduate and his family at Melba's in Harlem, where the collard greens and the catfish are to die for, and we all oohed and aahhed, not just over the meal, but at the accomplishments of our fine young man, who so fluently speaks that language of equations and data squiggles, and who I suspect must be incredibly smart, even though I couldn't begin to explain to you the work he does.
And one more picture that I've been meaning to post: My girl and her friends went to see Beyonce in concert a while back. It was something of a religious experience for my daughter, who loves her some Bey. I just love how happy she looks in this picture.
You niece could be model if she wants to take a break from dentistry! I so empathize about the haircut, as you might guess ... Lovely pictures of your other loved ones. Everyone seems busy at this time of year except me!
ReplyDeleteJenny-o, blog posts can be deceiving. There is a lot of down time and solo time in and around these photos. And there are other hard things happening that I'm not writing about because someone else's privacy needs. But you are not alone, my friend. xo
DeleteSuch joy here o I love your ability to be human among humans. It is one of the reasons I adore you. James Franco! That made me snort.
ReplyDeletexoxox
R, yes, there is much joy. I drink it in. It sustains me in the long bf hours when I am being human with only the walls to witness it. I love your recent accounts of nature, of trees and animal gods and sea. Much better than walls. I adore you back. xo
DeleteI'm so happy to be here!! These visits into your world pull me in and I feel like I am really a part of the joy.
ReplyDeleteYour niece? That girl would be gorgeous if she was bald!
And catfish?... on my top five list of foods I would never want to live without..ah, the sweetness. xo
Liv, I do take great joy in all these children. I relish their company in fact. I try not to be nostalgic that my own adventurous youth is far behind me. I'm trying to imagine an adventurous future despite this. But so far I'm living rather unadventurous and work-filled days. Nice to see you here.
DeleteThat haircut for the win! Dang but you have a good-looking family! And it's the light that shines from within as much as their physical characteristics.
ReplyDeleteBut you know that.
Vergil has a masters in engineering and I have NO idea what it is he really does but he sure does do it a lot.
Darling Mary, they're really good kids, every one of them. And I'm with you, that engineering language is completely foreign to me. It fascinates me that some brains actually find it crystal clear. Hugs, friend.
Deletewow! I have been thinking about you and your lovely family. I am in the process of trying to get back to blogging. Wish me luck! I have started an instagram account and I have to say I am slightly addicted to Pinterest which can suck up a whole ton of time I could use creatively!
ReplyDeleteGoing off to dinner now but will return to read and catch up with you! It's good to see your children so happy and beautiful! My girls both live in CA and my son who has been home for a year is heading back to grad school at Georgetown. I don't know where the time goes!
Kathleen! How fantastic to see you here! So glad to hear your kids are doing well. It sounds as if you're about to enter that same empty nest stage i'm in. Let's share notes. I'm so glad to hear you're thinking of blogging again. Keep me posted! xo
DeleteYour niece's hair is STUNNING!!!
ReplyDeleteI agree!
DeleteBeautiful photos and fab times you are having. :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks for your response on my blog with which I disagree politely but also strongly.
Had it been a demo instead of a fire, I would have agreed with you. Guerrilla photojournalism is needed now, especially with a polarising media. But Grenfell is different. There have been many reports accompanied by footage. We don't need amateur images that will very likely crop up on survivors' social media feed in years to come. We are all interconnected which means that the photo I have just taken on my phone now will appear on your Facebook page or your Twitter feed by virtue of you leaving a comment on my blog. Let's think of what these people have just gone through. Let's think of the mental support they will need. And then think of the "trigger" upon seeing images of their trauma five years down the line.
No, I disagree. We don't need people to act as vultures. We need people to put their mobile phones away. Not everything needs to be recorded.
Greetings from London.
A Cuban in London: I suppose I wasn't there, and so cannot truly discern what the sense was of the people taking pictures. I see how passionately you feel about what you witnessed, and so I must respect that. It is horrific all around. No doubt it is unhelpful to hold an opinion when one is so far away and did not experience the aftermath first hand so thank your for your response here and on your blog.
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