Wednesday, March 30, 2011

1001 And One Nights


It's Mothering Day in England this Sunday and the florists are busy.  The lovely Miss P., needs some distraction from the many men who visit her shop and the orders she's busy filling in vintage trophies and bowls. So, like Scheherazade, I shall tell a tale.


Miss Pickering wants to hear more about the olden days, and especially  more about the goat.  Luna was the goat's name. Surely her very name gives you a clue to the life I was leading.  Unless you were floating around a ghost town with a tiny gold star in your nose and flowing skirts, eating masses of brown rice and vegetables you probably wouldn't name your goat Luna.  You might not even have a goat or a dog named Chutney.  You probably wouldn't indulge in smoking various herbs or drinking teas made from cacti.
 



You probably wouldn't travel to Indian reservations with a long haired dentist who traded his services for rugs, blankets and said cacti.  Or fall off a horse in front of an entire tribe, who never cracked a smile. At least not in front of you.

And I don't think you would have run off  to Seattle with 3 friends who were on a carrot juice fast and turned a little more orange every day. Well, you may have, but you would have left a note.

When you got bored with their diet you might not have left them and hitchhiked through the abandoned mountain towns of Nevada, to arrive at the Renaissance Festival in California.  And, you possibly may not have gotten homesick and left the musicians and goldsmiths and wine drinking denizens behind to flee back to Jerome. 

But if you were me you might have done all this and more. 

Reading this in the cold light of day I'm left to wonder: am I the only formerly wild child now living happily in blogland with her collection of vintage Hermes scarves  and her compost pile?  

19 comments:

  1. I love your "olden days" stories. More, please. Speaking of Jerome...have you seen http://www.bloodintowine.com/ ?

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  2. Such an interesting life! Aren't you going to be a joy to sit next to in the old folks' home?

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  3. Denise, No I haven't, will check it out. The stories might be too much for some...

    Sue, Really? I was so much older then I'm younger than that now:)

    Rachel, I certainly hope so, if I can remember anything.

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  4. You're a Treasure, Jane. Was that the Malibu Pleasure Faire? Or one in Northern Cali? I sold garlands there one year. Once a Hippy, always a Hippy...the compost pile proves it!

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  5. No. No, you are not the only former wild child now living happily in blogland with a compost pile (although you may be the only one with Hermes scraves, I don't know). My children introduce me as "an old hippie chick". I suspect you are much (MUCH) younger than me, but otherwise we could have been running in the same circle, girl! Thanks for reminding me of the Olden Days - brings a smile to my face to remember them.

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  6. Yep, it is Mothering Day here this week. And then Mother's Day in May in the US. Lucky me, two celebrations! So wonderful to 'meet' you here :)

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  7. Blimey, Jane.

    I love these stories! Cactus tea sounds vile, but I do think goats are sweet. There is an incredibly old and ugly one at an open farm near here, called Belinda - my kids think it is hilarious and enjoy pointing out our similarities.

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  8. Love the story - omg - and love your blog, it's just fab :O)
    A xx

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  9. Wander lust lady forget the goat you have a collection of hermes scarves!!!? Sinead x

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  10. I suppose I wouldn't not leave a note, for fear of what would await me on my return...

    ps- forgot my phone at home while dashing out to the bus this morning ... on my way to the Renaissance fair of-course :-p (it's going to be a late night)
    gg

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  11. Shelly, A treasure? Thank you:) Northern California...garlands, eh? Did you have fun?

    Karin, Whew, now I feel better! See, this is why I didn't have children, no one could introduce me as old!

    Happy Homemaker, Enjoy your holiday. Hope you have a deliciously lazy day!

    Belinda, Your kids are funny! Cactus tea was indescribably vile.

    Bonne Chance, Glad you found it. Come back and visit,it's usually a wee bit more couran.

    Sinead, I do, surprisingly I don't wear them for gardening with my gold ballerinas.

    GG, I wondered what happened to you. You are so smart, you know I check the blog more than email. I'm working till closing, so I'll be home late myself. What's for dinner?

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  12. How often I wished (then and now) that I had the courage to be a hippie - right generation, but not enough guts. A goat named Luna - heaven! So conservative, so boring, dating a Navy lifer - how did I survive?

    Wish I had known you then. But so glad I know you now and can revel in your experiences. xoxo

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  13. yum! dinner, I'll be leaving campus around 7 ... salad and toast( and cheese) for dinner?

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  14. Jane , it was the Malibu Faire at Agoura. And it was many years ago. Your story also reminded me of my own crazy days in Berkeley and the Haight ... And you told it so honestly and sweetly. Thanks.

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  15. You are hilarious Jane, such a joy reading your posts, (turning a little more orange every day) lol.. your post and the comments made me laugh so much that my husband wants to know whats so funny :) x

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  16. hi jane,

    i missed this post somehow. anyway glad you got out of the renaissance faire. i would have run. i think i've asked this before but is jerome near sedona?

    it appears as if you truly have bloomed where you are now planted.

    xo

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  17. Dude, I'm still waiting for the book. . . Knopf?? Where are you??

    THANK YOU for linking me up in last week's installation of Flowers in the House. I am just now getting back into my normal swing of things, so it would have been quite the delay without your help. Guess I underestimated the week.

    The upside it that it is fun to have so many of your posts to catch up on at once. Something akin to the rare Halloween joy of eating five "fun size" Kit Kats in quick succession.

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