Good morning everyone and welcome to Friday’s Morning Open Thread.
Morning Open Thread is a daily, copyrighted post from a host of editors and guest writers. We support our community, invite and share ideas, and encourage thoughtful, respectful dialogue in an open forum.
I’ve come to think of this post as one where you come for the music and stay for the conversation—so feel free to drop a note. The diarist gets to sleep in if she so desires and can show up long after the post is published. So you know, it's a feature, not a bug.
Join us, please.
I am slow getting started this morning. Coffee shortly after 3:00, catch up on the news I ignored last night, trying to stretch the soreness from my bones, and then putting some Al Green on because I don’t want to face the real world today—or at least that world that doesn’t have a soundtrack by a southern, soul-singing, pastor. Just that sort of morning, I guess.
Place des Vosges (toward the northeast)
Yesterday evening I packed up the dogs I’ve been watching and brought them back to my sister, who got returned that afternoon from her trip (she had taken her oldest grandchild to Paris for a week as her 16th birthday present). My niece gifted me a small watercolor of a scene from the perspective of sitting under the covered walkways along Place des Vosges (my favorite place to sit and enjoy a Parisian day); my sister gifted me a book, Shelf Life: Chronicles of a Cairo Bookseller by Nadia Wassef. If you don’t know, the book is the memoir of one of the first modern independent bookstores in Cairo; it was founded by women (two sisters and a friend) and has since expanded to be an intellectual and cultural force in Egypt.
This weekend I’ll cut a new mat for the watercolor (it needs an acid-free envelope around it and I have plenty of mat stock) and start on a frame. If I finish up my latest book tonight (and I should if I can stay awake long enough), I’ll skip the next in the pile on my bedside table and jump right to Shelf Life. Also, my son is back from visiting his grandparents, so we need to get back into a routine. I’m thinking of taking a trip down to the island on Saturday to see the amount of rebuilding that’s been done over the last three weeks (and as a good excuse to get him his favorite shrimp poboy).
Since I have little to say this morning, I’ll leave it at that and let Al Green carry the burden as the first glimmer of light appears on the horizon. I hope each of you have a lovely Friday and a relaxing weekend.
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Be well, be kind, and appreciate the love you have in your life.
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Grab your coffee or tea and join us, please.
What's on your mind this morning?
