Saturday, October 26, 2013

Breaking the Poncho Barrier

I wore a sweater poncho to work. It was a big step for me. I practiced wearing it around the house, trying to feel normal in it. A sweater poncho touches that same "fashion nerve" as wearing a hat. It takes guts to do in public, and it feels sort of glamour shot-ish. 

Two people complimented me on the sweater poncho, but I wasn't sure if they meant it or if that's simply what one says when an elephant walks into the room. 

Later in the day I started to hit my stride with the poncho. The window by my desk didn't suck the heat out of me the way it used to on non poncho days. It was like wearing a blanket. I felt so "Clint Eastwood" when I threw the front poncho panel over my shoulder, so I wouldn't get pulled into the office copy machine. I could almost hear "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly's" haunting theme song whistling past me as I walked cowboy style down the halls. 

It wasn't long until I saw more ponchos making their way to the office from the back of their owners' closets. I'd broken the poncho barrier. It made my day.

Mon Dieu

I took French in high school but didn't keep up with it in college. I never had a reason to use it aside from my husband's occasional scrabble question, "What's a four-letter French word for cat?"

With no one to converse with en francais, I decided I'd keep up my language skills by praying in French. In the early years I had a very rich vocabulary and had much parlez with God. But now 30 years later with my shriveled French lexicon, my prayers speak of amourmerci, and a lot of mon Dieu. I guess this reduction in vocabulary makes me a more mature Christian. Instead of asking for lots of things, I speak of love, say thank you a lot and my God, my God. C'est magnifique!