xmlns:og>='http://ogp.me/ns#'> Pedals & Pencils: Goodbye, White

September 6, 2010

Goodbye, White

Labor Day is here, banishing white pants to the back of the closet for another season.  Well, I don't own any white pants, 'cause my bottom half just doesn't need that level of attention, so instead I'm writing about other white things that have come and gone.

Goodbye white lace on the baby pillow my mom stitched for me.  I loved you until you were dirty tatters framing the yellow gingham,  Come to think of it, goodbye white stuffing that filled the pillow and in the end came out in puffy lumps through the hole where I loved that pillow too thin.

Goodbye white stephanotis corsage that I wore to a junior prom.  You were so much more beautiful than the red roses all the other girls wore.  Good riddance to the boy that gave me that corsage and didn't ever talk to me again because I wouldn't smoke a joint and sleep with him.  Wait, not even good riddance to him.  Just riddance.

Goodbye Saturday morning sweetmilks with mounds of snowy powdered sugar spooned in the middle.  This isn't so much a goodbye as it is a "See you later on a lazy winter morning."  I will wipe powdered sugar from my lips and remember wiping my mouth on the corner of Grandpa's "Kiss Me, I'm Norweigan" apron.

Goodbye white seashells washing ashore in the shadows of the pier.  I keep you in a jam jar on my night stand, remembering the day I last kissed my grandmother.  I can't wait to walk barefoot in the sand and gather more shells for my jar.

Goodbye white wedding dress, all boxed up on the top shelf in my closet.  I take you down every now and then and blow the dust off the front of the box.  You made me feel like a princess on our wedding day.  You were spotless and new and so was I.  One day I will work up the nerve to free you from your box and wear you around the house.  Until then, wait for me with your satiny train all tucked in.

Goodbye blackberry blossoms, bursting white among the thorns.  It's time for you to rest, time to pull fall's burgundy blanket up to your chin as the earth breathes a sigh of relief.  It's Labor Day and the laboring is done.  For now.

4 comments:

  1. Goodbyes in white. Love that, and now for the hellos. Is that the plan?
    Bonnie

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  2. Bonnie, Fall is always full of hellos, isn't it. I never thought about writing about them. Good thinking. I think Fall is such a dramatic stage, don't you?

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  3. Once again you made me laugh and cry! Just who was that bad boy who took you to the jr. prom? I thought you only went with Terry :) Shall I make you a new pillow? I love you!

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  4. Mom, I took Terry to my Junior and Senior proms. And he was a complete gentleman, of course. This prom guy was pre-Terry. I think I totally ruined his prom. And that makes me a teensy bit happy.

    As for the pillow, remember when you tried to make me a pink one to replace my ragged yellow one? It just wasn't the same. The pink one smelled all new and was so smooth. That yellow one with white lace had the perfect smell, even if it was just a lumpy mess at the end.

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