While it’s a nice song with plenty of charming images, if I had to come up with new lyrics, I think I would write instead about my favorite people. And someone who would certainly have to be included is Kessia Reyne Bennett.
I used to be really intimidated of Kessia. You know, she’s extremely smart and funny and above average at, well, everything. So when we were both still at Southern, I thought she was way out of my friendship league. Thankfully, she befriended me when I came to Michigan, and this has made my life here much happier.
I guess we often share something in common with the people we make friends with – a similar sense of humor, an interest in a certain hobby, or some common values. But beyond those things, I feel like I have significant differences from most of my friends. My heart and mind seem to work together in different ways from most people’s.
I was surprised and delighted to discover that Kessia, however, is very much the same as me. The quirks that make us different from most people are the characteristics we share. So talking to her is like reading a personality book written especially for me. (Which is great, because I love reading personality books, but the descriptions never seem to fit me quite right.)
My most recent self-discovery via Kessia is that I have a fear of using things up. I always have. When I was a kid, we would pick up candy thrown from floats in the annual Jellico Christmas Parade. The other kids would eat all their candy before the New Year; I made my bag last until at least April. I had a cupboard full of lotions and soaps and bath salts that I would never use because I didn’t want them to be gone someday. I had a whole box of stationary sets that I never wrote on because I didn’t want to run out; instead I would use plain old notebook paper. I felt like someday there would be the perfect occasion for using stationary, and I didn’t want to encounter such a situation and (imagine the horror) find my stationary box empty!
I was telling Andrea Keele about this silly fear (because Andrea also understands Kessia and me) and she said she has a hard time cooking because she is afraid of using up her groceries. I laughed at her a little…until I went to my freezer and saw that my side is overflowing with peaches and blueberries that I picked on Labor Day and carefully preserved for the winter. We do have several months before this silver-white winter melts into spring, but still…it’s been six months since I put that fruit in the freezer, and I haven’t used a single bag yet. I guess I have been waiting for the Perfect Day for Peach Pie.
But when is that going to be? So I decided to make a pie tonight. Not for anyone or anything special. Just for me. Just because I felt like it.
It's brutally true. The perfect time and circumstances aren't coming. We might as well just live. And oh to be understood... That would be a spectacular blessing
Excellent latice work!!!
Hey, I just watched The Sound of Music too! And I like Kessia too! And I really like peach pies. :) So much to identify with, but I am glad you went ahead and used your fruit. I went ahead and used my potato. :)
This blog post sparks within me an exuberant "YESSS!" I say YES, we really are eerily similar. I say YES, I don't remember you telling me about the lotion/soap/bath salts thing but I totally have that problem too. And most importantly, I say YES to that use-it-up peach pie, that this-is-the-day peach pie, the what-does-a-perfect-opportunity-look-like-anyway peach pie. I say YES to going to my overflowing stationery box and writing on my fancy paper.
And then after all that I chuckle to myself that you thought I was too cool. I thought YOU were too cool. And since we're so similar, is this Escher drawing his own hand, or what?
I love this blog. I think it speaks to my heart sooo much. I want to use everything all the way up. I want to walk out of this world totally spent and drained. I want to live my life to death. I want some peach pie!
You inspire me Miss Jehle. I'm going to write on my pretty stationary this weekend...AND use my half bottles of lotion...separately of course.
yummy! i remember making some fun things with you in prague. i miss you. dylan is coming on the 10th, he said he's gonna see you soon too though. wish we were all together at some point. anyway, love you much.