Yesterday, I had an incredible, yet incredibly simple, day. I had the kind of adventure that cost me nothing more than a tank o’ gas and the effort it took to get dressed. In return, I got back a boatload of all the abstract specifics that I would call my core values. In what profound, exotic activity did I participate? I had a regular ol’ conversation with my oldest— but truly young-at-heart— sister, Mercedes. Some of you readers know her as Betty, or Betty Rae, or BT. But to me, she’s Mercedes. She is my own, personal Mercedes.
Mercedes has lived in Pleasant View since the late 60’s when she hitched up with the jolly Nuk. PV is only thirty-five minutes away from my place, yet somehow, we don’t see each other as often as I’d like. We mean to see each other. I mean— it’s not like each of us is boycotting the other. We get along famously. She was literally the first TIE O’ THE DAY reader. Mercedes was my first tbloglodyte, way back when TO’TD was simply a text and a pic of a shirt and tie. That was also back when TIE O’ THE DAY showed only one tie per one day.
Yesterday, I showed up at Mercedes’ basement door with a bag o’ books to share. A bag of books is like a hostess gift between us. We trade books back and forth. Some guests might show up to a get-together, lugging a plate of cookies or a bottle of wine as a “thank you” to the host. We do books. We don’t mind trading underlined, highlighted, margin-noted books if need be. The markings give us further insights into each other. “Why did she highlight that paragraph? Why did she underline that word twice? I’ve gotta ask her about that.”
Anyhoo… We sat in Mercedes’ pleasantly dark basement where she has been working this week. She met The Saddle Purse and my Frida Kahlo cape in person for the first time. We talked family, religion, politics, you name it. And we are always able to respectfully discuss these dicey topics, without bullying and/or closed ears. I come away from our conversations feeling nourished and more knowledgeable than I was when we started.
Do you know what I didn’t do while I was talking to Mercedes? I didn’t worry about snapping pix for a TIE O’ THE DAY post. A post picture wasn’t the most important thing. I was totally focused on having a funny and meaty conversation with my bigliest sister. Enjoy my stick-figure-on-a-sticky-note re-creation of my happy day.
I did wear my wood, glasses Bow Tie o’ the Day for my visit with Mercedes— just in case you wondered.