Dear Toad

I ran an errand yesterday, and on the way home there was enough snow gone to reveal the sad condition of Mr. Toad. I cannot fix it and won't replace it. In fact, I'll celebrate its wasting away, like all of us.

Enlarge the picture and you can see how toads of this sort are made. It seems to be a core; its good looks made and applied subsequently. Rather like people.  Toad has pleased me all these years, and what is left will continue to please me.

And were I a better "keeper", I would have sealed it when it came into my life thirty years ago. But thirty years ago I did not know how to care for little outdoor creatures made of cement. And now I could find out, but it is too late to begin for Toad, and I have no intention of having another Toad that I cannot outlive.

Heavy philosophy, there. And I set out to write about something silly, that makes me happy every time I look at it.

Every time I have a new towel picture to post, I get to pass the picture of this towel in Belize. Its drape is as casual as its shirt neighbor. The sheet tries the same look, celebrating the day, the sky, the breeze. When I pass, I smile.

I wondered if I could replicate the look. I have the new lime towels on the shelf, I'm pretty resourceful. I clipped the towel to a blind, attempted to arrange it artistically, and took a picture. Actually, I took several.

And now I smile for a whole nother reason. Can't make it happen without blue sky, breeze, sunshine, a lovely summer day.

So, I'll go weave some more and listen to a storm blowing up.