July 13 I last wrote to you.
It was the day My Beloved died.
Memories – sort of
You know – no you don’t unless you have travelled with me and My Beloved- but My Beloved would talk to Silva, our Chrysler 300, circa 2013 and all the others of our previous cars. She might say, “Silva, I’m sorry he hit the curb. Whenever we leave the bank, he cuts that corner and hits the curb, doesn’t he. He’s not treating you very well, is he?” or, more often, “Silva, I think you should slow down a bit: 140 in a 110 zone might be a bit fast.”
But, talking to an inanimate object was not limited to our cars. No. My Beloved frequently talked to one of the many stuffed toys. On making the bed and knocking a stuffed Smiley off the headboard, I might hear an exclamation such as, “Oh, Smiley, I’m so sorry. Here, back you go. Are you OK now?” Or, it might be something like, “I know I put my pencil down somewhere [addressed to no-one in particular] Where are you, pencil? Pencil, where are you? [addressed to, obviously, an animate pencil]“, which I have never heard reply to tell her where it is..
Or, another day, it might be, “Hey, Bun-bun, how are you this morning?”, addressed to her little stuffed rabbit wearing her little dress she had sewn for her when she was six or seven. I’m still not sure whether Bub-bun is male or female, because often both of us would would address her as him. It seems the dress makes him her. Whatever, Bun-bun always has had pride of place in the centre of the headbboard. He/she was/is very important – and still is to me. I think I will have to put the question to Bun-bun and see if I get a definite answer.
These monologues were not just occasional: they occurred frequently. Sometimes I almost wondered if, when I asked her while showing her that gorgeous Ceylon Ruby ring, if she would marry me, she looked at the ring and said, “I love you so much, oh, yes, yes” meaning the ring not me. Well, seventy such happy years later, I know it was I she did really mean.
I also remember the times, several probably, when in bed and kissing her good night, she would say, “Oh, that was a bit rough tonight.” Of course she was addressing the beard, not me. And beards are peculiar things. Basically I do not like them, particularly on gorgeous women, but there were times when we lived in Winnipeg and we would take a month’s vacation up at Victoria Beach on Lake Winnipeg and I would not shave for a month. A red haze would appear after a week or so, but by the end of a month, there was no real beard. It just looked like I hadn’t shaved, which, indeed, is what it was. No thickness, no style at all. Not worth the effort while making myself look terribly lazy for not shaving.
I try to take a four to five kilometre walk at least four times a week. that wears out walking shoes. So, a few days ago I went to Sport Chek with the intent of buying a new pair of Skechers, a brand I have come to respect. When I walked into the store in Bedford, I was greeted cheerily with, “Good morning!” I was directed to the far corner of the store and there I found a goodly set of walking shoes, Most name brands have shoes at outrageous prices, but with Skechers I do not seem to have a problem, as they are always moderately priced. A lovely young lady helped me select a pair, but I said I needed 10 or 10 1/2 (note to self, why can’t WordPress format fractions properly as WORD does?). She told me there were no halves, but she would go in the back and bring both 10 and 11 sizes. On her return, I immediately chose the 10 and went to the check-out. Deal accomplished. I told them to keep the old pair and I walked out of the store in my new shoes.
As I am walking towards the car, I find myself saying, “What we are walking on is pavement – wet pavement”, and “That silver car over there is ours.” Suddenly, I realise I am talking to my inanimate shoes!
And later, after I park Silva in the Sobey’s parking lot and start walking toward the store, “And this is one of the large stores we frequently visit,” and “this is where we go inside,”. Well, I got no reply from my new acquisitions, but it made me think, “Hey, Darling, are you behind my pointing out to my new shoes how comfortable we are talking to each other, even if you don’t reply in a voice I can hear?
I’ll try to post a story more often in the future.
Heartfelt and good wishes to all and sundry – take notice if you are talking to your shoes today!
From time to time... 