crack open and shine

so, the required time for rainbowing was in fact rather brief. processing was swift and sweet. and so the sky ballet continues. i am this morning considering the infinite ways life cracks open and shines. always, always when you least suspect it! such is the magic of the world.

in less abstractly substantive news, i also find myself this morning at a curious style crossroads. i am wearing a skirt that belonged to a friend's grandmother. one day she wrapped it up and sent it to me via post even though at that time she lived in brooklyn and i lived in manhattan. the accompanying note said she thought it might fit me and that her grandmother had a tremendous spirit and so it might be fitting in that sense as well. she was right on both counts! it is high-waisted and tapers to a flare below the knee. there is a curious weighted ribbon which falls from the inner-front of the bodice. the weighted end of the ribbon (which feels as though it has a coin in it) dangles between my mid-upper thighs. i wonder if i am meant to squeeze it somehow to achieve a certain posture or life in my derriere. (i wonder this every time i wear this skirt, actually.) i probably ought to look this up. but instead, i'll appreciate the mystery and the way it grazes my inner thighs. ahh, the delicious complexity of being a woman and dressing! to borrow from yeats:

'To be born woman is to know --
Although they do not talk of it at school --
That we must labour to be beautiful.'

and the reply:

'It's certain there is no fine thing
Since Adam's fall but needs much labouring.
There have been lovers who thought love should be
So much compounded of high courtesy
That they would sigh and quote with learned looks
precedents out of beautiful old books;
Yet now it seems an idle trade enough.'

anyway, rather than grow quiet at the name of love, i shall continue. i have paired this skirt with strands of chocolate pearls and thoroughly modern shoes (an interesting choice). this felt appropriate as i dressed since i feel as though i'm on the verge of a style revolution. and then some.