July 4th, my way

i am not related to any southerners, therefore am i not related to Minnie Pearl

(at least i think i am not).

my experiences suggest otherwise.

and yes, i have gone out to a party more than one time with a price tag 

shooting off of my clothing somewhere. 

most days i can get by without thinking about my New York roots

 without too much difficulty nor any contradictions too. 

at least this is what happens in my mind.

it is not what happens in my real life though. 

i was a happy person.

 i had a plan in place that started with going to the pool to meet our friends for a swim 

(yep, even i wanted to jump in),

 a group dinner cooked at the pool's community grill...

and then to cap off the day, we could cross over the red bridge to watch the city fireworks .

(the red bridge is a Providence thing). 

but you all know that the best laid plans of mice and men somehow go asunder. 

at least when i am involved. 

everything was really fun 

and by that, i mean really, really fun. 

even being with two rambunctious 16-17 year old boys.

 ones that  are prone to inserting 

"that's what she said" jokes into any conversation. 

as part of the beginning of the festivities, we were all aligned and facing the pool. 

this is great for sunning, but not for intelligent or fluid conversations. 

so i turned a plastic chaise around to face everyone else. 

no problem. 

then i sat down. 

i had noticed that there was a crack in the chair, but it did not seem all that daunting.

these are not tremendously crafted pieces of furniture. they are what you can get to hold through a season or two as seating for a pool or backyard population that likes to stretch out and catch some rays. 

again, i was wrong. 

when i sat down, the skirt i was wearing and some of my bottom pushed into the aperture created by the crack in the slats.

 all i could think of at the time was a container that includes a little plastic cross inside to pull disposable towels through. after the towels are threaded through, the cross sorta closes up and captures the cloth. this of course allows a cloth from the roll inside of the container and the grabbing mechanism  holds onto 

the fabric to break the fabric from the roll. 

well this precise action grabbed my skirt and separated it into two neat pieces. 

yep. 

right at underwear height

in a 9 inch east to west tear. 

*N*E*R*T*S!!!!

(frank burns from M*A*S*H used to say this when he was frustrated...)

it took a bit for the clever child... 

the last one from my own dna line to submit her suggestion for my temporary repair. 

what else...

DUCK TAPE!!!

we got a roll from the pool office, i went into the ladies room, and i taped my skirt together from the inside.

  

my girls were unsure that i fixed the skirt... since they couldn't see the repair.

it was deemed a positive result. 

oh yeah!!!

truly every woman should keep a roll in their purse.

it fixes just about anything. 

such good stuff. 

that little sewing kit you bring  with you on trips? 

it is not hugely helpful when duck tape is near. 

anyways, we had a superior time, 

the boys, the girls and the grownups in our gang  struggled to see the fireworks... 

(they had not started yet...) 

and 

finally capped the day with some bursting in air. 

photo taken with camera phone by jason pamental. 

(he is also my computer, graphics, website designer par excellence!!!)

thank you to the max jason!

in spite of my earlier mishap, 

the day was a spectacular success. 

thank you to all participants!

ellie, jason,trevor,phoebe,graham, tessa,chris and corey

you are the best. 

xoxo. 

W.