Wednesday, June 23, 2010

today is going to be a wonderful day

sometimes you find what you've been looking for.
sometimes you find a very cranky old woman with a thick russian accent who scowls at you and slams a gate in your face.

for your sake, i'll start at the beginning.

we were just going out for lunch, shar and i. it was a gorgeous day; hot, calm, not a cloud in the sky. those are the days that i like best.
after we finished our pandinos, shar mentioned a garage sale she'd been at the day before. it sounded completely amazing and she told me i'd find scads of sweet things there, so we packed up and started off to find it.

i love shar. shar is great. but i found this out about shar yesterday:
shar doesn't know where she's going.
we went this way, and that way, and back over there, and east and north and down that street.

i guess that's about when it started to rain a little bit.

i looked down and saw this.


then i looked up.


the first crack of thunder reached deep down into my head and knocked hard on my brain, and a shard of lightning flew from one end of the sky to the other.
we walked a little faster. we talked about death.

we found it.

the garage sale, i mean. not death.
dead people don't web log.

the point is not that.
the point is that we made it.
after three hours of walking.
just as the woman was packing up her last few boxes.
the gate was open, so we just kind of stood there; two pathetic, wayfaring strangers.
she scowled angrily.
"VHAT DO YOU VHANT?"
we smiled. the kinds of smiles that you smile at someone who hates your guts.
shar was brave. "you're probably packing up eh?"
"VHOULD YOU LUK AT DAAT? DAAT SKY EES SO BLECK! EES GOING TO REEN, AND I AM NOT PUTTING MY TINGS OUT IN DAAAAAT WITHER."
and with that, she slammed the little gate shut and jammed a bony finger at the threatening clouds.
"YUS LUK! LUK!"
she kept hollering after us as to yus luk at daaaat sky as we hurried away. i began to feel like she thought it was maybe our faults that the sky looked the way it did.
it wasn't.
and that's when the sky opened up and dumped twenty thousand gallons of water right on our heads.
to say we were wet is kind of like saying barclay is cool. it's true, but it's a monstrous understatement.
we were soaked. and freezing.
we stepped in a puddle that turned out to be an ocean and had to wade through water up to our knees.
i was wearing my newspaper on my head to keep the rain from dribbling down the back of my shirt.

but we [eventually] made it home.
and guess what?
the sidewalk was right:
it was a wonderful day.
because shar is good company,
AND
because after i got home and dried off, mum and dad krause threw me a birthday party and gave me THESE:


kind of a booky rainbow after the rain.
emma, a tale of two cities, jane eyre, pride and prejudice, sense and sensibility, treasure island, tom sawyer & huckleberry finn, and little women. how happy am i?
very. 

10 comments:

Shlee said...

oooooo I love your books!! Especially the Jane Austens! Have fun with them.

Alan said...

How's come my days are never as interesting as yours? You even think to take pictures and everything. Have a good Thursday. God bless you.

Unknown said...

I feel stupid and empty handed trying to leave a comment after something with so many words I want to quote in a comment back to you, that you would read, and would feel oddly like you had been here before, because they are your words. Right. Back. To. You.

You are an incredibly hilarious woman and I adore your blog. Yes. I say that everytime I write.

Beautiful books.
Happy birthday, beauty Suzy.
xoxox

Chess said...

I haven't read a Tale of Two Cities or Treasure Island. How I have made it this far as an English major and not read those, I'll never know, but one day. :-)

What a fantastic gift! :-)

hawthorne girl said...

what a fun post and a terrific blog. it does sound like a wonderful day and happy birthday!

dulci said...

love the books!!!! so cool!

http://ladulcivida.blogspot.com/

Emmy said...

Not sure if my last comment sent, ummmm yeah.
i like this post. is basically what the comment said. just in case =)

Amy Seager said...

I think your blog just happens to be one of my new favourites! It is so fun and exciting to read and the photos are so pretty too!

Love Aimee
x

kiersten said...

remember at the arts festival there was that picture of a lady's feet in red heels and the sidewalk said that same exact thing? and how we were going to make our own and just blow it up, because how much cheaper and cooler would that be? Now we have our print! Let's make it biiiig!!

suzy said...

cara: your comments always make me grin so big. :D
sanks.
shlee: I KNOW RIGHT? so exciting.
alan: go out and have an adventure. right now. do it. bring your camera. take pictures of EVERYTHING.
emmy: thank you! :D
kiersten: but we should take a better one with a better camera and better shoes. i really just stumbled acrost this one. i'll take you there, i think it's painted on.