A toilet paper Barbie has come to live in my house. She arrived yesterday. I found her waiting on my kitchen table when I arrived home. Someone seemed to think I needed her.
I sat on the porch this evening in the early summer twilight and thought of how soon the days will stop lengthening and start swinging back in the other direction. BAH.
I unwrapped my Amalfi Coast travel journal the other day. I haven’t opened it in a year.
I love that travel has an after life.
That lives on and on and on in the fertile soil of the imagination.
Today after lunch the little punks wanted to hear a story. A real story. Not from a book. I dove in head first and didn’t hesitate. Not even a little. Paragraph after paragraph came tumbling out of my mouth. Little tribes of mice and other animals that lived on the rooftops of the city all around us. Rats on one, Mice on the other, Cats, Monkeys. They all wore clothes. Some were good and friendly. Others more menacing. They ringed the tops of the buildings and watched as people passed by on the sidewalks below. The tossed balls back and forth across the street from one tall building to the next. You think people are in charge in the city, but they aren’t. It’s the little animals that watch from the roofs. Next time you’re outside in the evening look up super fast and you might catch a blur of a tail or paw or hat. Or a ball. Eyes grew rounder and rounder. No one made a sound. Finally I found the end. A little mouse with a dress and umbrella came to live at my house.
Can you bring her tomorrow?
Of course.
Can we pet her?
Of course.
What do you feed her?
Cheese.
What about your cats?
She has a special saddle and she rides them around the house. They like it.
Even the big cat?
No, not him. He’s not saddle broken. She rides him bareback.
Miss Moss is all that true?
Yep.
What about the part about the rats with flashlights that chased you?
The hard to believe parts are the truest.
okay i’m smilin’… just smilin’… : )
Is that like when I asked my dad when he was paving bricks on our garden, how they get that little bubble to be inside the water in the spirit level?
And he said, “it’s a lobster fart”
And I get to school next day and announce at show and tell to the whole class the mystery of the spirit level??
I was so imspired by your trip to Amalfi last year that it’s on my list when I go to Italy on June 4th. Thanks for revisiting your travel journal. I must get mine ready!!!
I am over whelmed. I’m not sure which one I like the best but it is a toss up between the video (great) and the TP Barbie. You have got to be the luckiest person in the state!!
love that profile photo! interesting
Today is tomorrow, in terms of the story, and OOOO I am wondering about the next chapter….
did you tellem the cheese-eating saddle rider had gone for an awayday to an exotic land today?
Such a delight-full post!
I to you like so much.
xxx
You’re so awesome. I so wish you had been my teacher!
We’re so lucky that we get to hear your stories too!
When I saw your photos of Amalfi I thought I must be crazy, since I have the whole month of June off, the money for airfare, friends and family in Italy, and I keep thinking about how nice it would be to be there, but also how nice it would be to have absolutely nothing to do for a whole month, so have not made any plans. Part of me feels guilty about not grabbing every opportunity I have for something fun, and part of me just wants to be oh so lazy… Bet I’ll regret it when winter comes. Just like you, I’ve already started thinking about when summer will be over!
Loved the video, but don’t know what a Toilet Paper Barbie is.
First of all that video is great! And second, I sure wish they had teachers like you when I was a kid! As for the TP Barbie….I have no words!
I know all about those mice, especially the ones who ride cats around the house. Yep. Got one of my own. Sails a ship pretty well, too, that mouse. Why, that Mousie has been known to do a little privateering on the side, on a sailing vessel called the Flying Mouse. Yep. Uh-huh.
The video was worth getting out of bed for. That video was worth ironing for! Thank you for rewarding me on a day full of tedious and dull chores. Sigh.
Another stellar posting! Thank you.
Hey!
I called you Miss Mary Ann once and you disapproved!
Frankly, my favorite thing is the dress.
What a great web you weave for those little punks! I love that! I am going to go watch that video now.
I hope I understand it…
Love the video and your story. I enjoyed the other 2 videos by this woman also. Those poor little wild ponies probably had bad dreams lasat nite!
You just carry right on raising another generation of kids with weird imaginations – we have enough conformists already!
Thank you – with an overflowing heart – for EVERYTHING you share here.
Peace & Love.
GREAT video. Oh, and where to begin with the TP Barbie and the very tall tale?
Most awesome.. 😉
I’m dying here. Rats with flashlights. Dude, you are GOOD. Chuy and the monkeys are soooo lucky. xo
Miss Mary Ann,
You are Magic, that is all there is to it.
Inspired by you and your travels, I started making travel journals last summer. We are going to Santa Fe in June, and I am planning THE JOURNAL–almost as much fun as the trip itself!
Thanks for another incredible post…
Okay. My day has been inspired, in spite of finding out that my “Small Wonder” video camera (mother of the popular “FLIP”) seems to be on strike. Your stories and that fab clip has allowed the sunshine to break through.
One feature of your blog that I anticipate always is the title of each entry. They never fail to tantalize. (Hey! I just noticed that I used ‘always; and ‘never’ in rapid succession. Hmmmmm)
love it wackily and quirky enough to make me giggle….the story that is, particularly the ending.
I’m new here, how did Chuy get into your kitchen? I love that video too. I have a special passion for paredolia (seeing faces in things). I have my own collection. Love the imaginative story! The punks sure will remember you!