I Think of You

I feel a sense of well-being this morning. The sun is shining, we didn't have a frost last night, the petunias are back hanging on the porch, the zinnias in the border survived the night, birds are singing. Yesterday at the conservation area I saw a bluebird flitting through the trees. What a magnificent tiny creature, bright azure feathers. I felt lucky to see it. I'm contemplating going for a walk but don't feel like tearing myself away from the music. So maybe I'll cook something. I stopped by a farmstand yesterday and bought a large bag of spinach. I'm paging through my Barefoot Contessa cookbooks. I have phyllo dough in the freezer. I think I'll make spinach pie. I bought a bag of organic lemons yesterday, so am inspired to make lemon cake. And I'd like to get around to the French lentils that I never do anything with. It's supposed to be cold and rainy tomorrow. So I think I'll make a pot of lentil vegetable soup to keep things cozy.

I think about an article I recently read, about a former mistress and muse of Norman Mailer who has written a memoir.

Ms. Mallory, then 41, met Mr. Mailer at Elaine’s on the Upper East Side. It’s hard to say who went after whom. She was the first to invite him to coffee. He was the first to invite her to his hotel room (ostensibly to look over a manuscript she had written, which included an account of her one-night stand with Warren Beatty). After a round of edits, he placed his hand on her shoulder. “Take off your panties,” he said soon after, according to the book. “I want to experience your soul.”

I've never read Norman Mailer, but that has got to be one of his greatest lines ever. Sigh.

Carole Mallory can turn a phrase herself. "In the beginning we spoke with our bodies. In the end we spoke with our minds."
Don't I know, only too well.

Am also (via Maud Newton this morning) becoming quite fascinated with Picasso's "long-time muse and mistress, Dora Maar, who was a photographer, poet and painter in her own right, as well as the inspiration for many Picasso masterpieces, most notably The Weeping Woman...."

Very many kisses for you this morning, dearest. I hope your day goes well.