A Shmata by Any Other Name

That's it, she's finally lost it. I mean, who keeps a pair of underwear on the counter by the kitchen?

It was the first thing I thought as I walked into the house. It was the first thing I saw as I walked in the door.

Turns out it wasn't underwear after all. You could see where I might think it was, though. Small, round, aqua nylon with a cream colored lace trim around the edge, it certainly could have been. It wasn't until later that night when I finally saw what it was.

She took off her blonde wig. A shock as I hadn't seen her since she'd gotten it, since she needed it. So perfect I'm ashamed to admit I didn't realize it was a wig until she removed it, put it on its stand in her bedroom. The whole time I was there I was taken aback every time I walked into that room and saw the faceless head on her dresser.

Off next came the wig cap. You know, that piece of nylon that looks like something you pull over your face before robbing a bank. 
 

Unnatural adornments dispensed with, I now got my first glimpse at what was beneath. Turns out it's perfection. Not yet an inch long and just exquisite. Salt and pepper with a slight wave. Grey around the temples highlighting her eyes. The eyes that change from blue to green. Blue today.

She is beautiful. Strong and independent and self reliant, and beautiful. She always was, but this . . . this is a different level of beauty. Maybe because of her inner strength, so evident these days. Or maybe just because of the nature of who she is, the dignity and grace with which she faces anything. Everything. 

Whenever just stepping outside her door, like to get the paper but not really going anywhere, she put it over her head. Not underwear, of course, but a little nylon cap. For now. Until she's ready.

A shmata (Yiddish for "rag"). 

It wasn't, of course, not even close. Pretty, actually, but that's how I thought of it. And it's her own fault. It's what she'd always call those tacky kerchiefs people used to wear and the unfair association, once made in my mind, would not go away. A sleep cap, a head cap, a hat liner, call it what you will, it is what it is. And I suppose thinking of it as a shmata on her head is a step up from thinking of it as underwear, so there's that.

But when she wasn't going barely out her door in the shmata or to the pool in her sun hat or out more formally in the wig, we got to see the striking tones that make up her new look. The elegance with which she wears them. Fitting, I thought, the artistic beauty of her new aesthetic, a gift even. She liked it too, actually, although how could you not? I asked, one night, if she'd go to the restaurant like that but not yet, just a little more length on her forehead, fullness around the temples. Soon. She will know.

Loaded Red Potato Slices

I will not be there when she first ventures out in her new natural look. I can't tell you how much I wish I were. I do hope that she will not discard her shmata, that she will put it away somewhere. It is a symbol of what was and what now is. It represents a past endured, dispensed with, defeated. It signifies a battle won. Again.

And although I will not be there to see the show, I've seen the previews. And I know without a doubt that it will be a hit.

Strength, in all of it forms, is beautiful. 

Especially on her.

Loaded Red Potato Slices         
                                    ©www.BakingInATornado.com

 
Printable Recipe
 
Ingredients:
4 large or 6 small red potatoes, rinsed, dried and cut into slices approximately 1/4 to 1/2 inches in width
1/2 stick butter, melted 
salt and pepper
1 1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar
1 green onion, sliced
1/4 cup cooked chopped bacon bits

OPT: Serve with sour cream

Directions:
*Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Using a pastry brush, brush half of the melted butter onto a 9 X 13 baking pan.
*Place the potato slices onto the pan, brush the rest of the butter onto the potato slices.
*Place into the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven but leave the oven on.
*Turn the potatoes over and return to the oven for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and top the potato slices with the cheddar, then onion and bacon bits.  
*Turn oven off and return the pan to the oven until the cheese melts. Serve with sour cream if desired.

Use Your Words: Because Hope Rules

Today’s post is a monthly writing challenge. If you’re new here, this is how it works: participating bloggers picked 4 – 6 words or short phrases for someone else to craft into a post. All words must be used at least once. All of the posts will be unique as each writer has received their own set of words. That’s the challenge, here’s a fun twist; no one who’s participating knows who got their words and in what direction the recipient will take them. Until now.

At the end of this post you’ll find links to the other blogs featuring this challenge. Check them all out, see what words they got and how they used them.
I’m using: pain ~ stop ~ information ~ ebb and flow ~ hearts and flowers
They were submitted by Jules of The Bergham Chronicles.

Today's post is going to be a short one. These words hit close to home, took me to a place I really didn't want to go, and spoke to me in prose.

Because Hope Rules

No more information. Need eradication.
Ebb and flow, stop and go, high and low.
Cut with precision, statistics in place of vision, another tough decision. 

Give us hearts and flowers, herculean superpowers.
Fear and pain, cut and drain, loss for gain. 
Called our bluff, proved we're tough, had enough.

Make it stop, not another tear to drop.
Fight and flight, day and night, end in sight.
Poison it out, battle without doubt, brave throughout.
    
Another round, we'll be crowned.
Challenged and replied, power and pride, out and inside.
Proved you're cruel, so we'll use the tools,
                                because hope rules. 



We all have a different idea of what is comfort food. For me, it's pasta:

Shrimp and Portobello in Roasted Red Pepper Cream Sauce

Here are links to all the other Use Your Words posts:

Southern Belle Charm 
Not That Sarah Michelle 

Spatulas on Parade 

The Bergham Chronicles 
The Diary of an Alzheimer’s Caregiver
Dinosaur Superhero Mommy 
On the Border 
Confessions of a part time working mom 
Never Ever Give Up Hope 
Climaxed 

 

Shrimp and Portobello in Roasted Red Pepper Cream Sauce

                                                                          ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

 

Ingredients:

8 oz jar of Roasted Red Peppers
1 TBSP olive oil
1 1/2# large shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 cloves garlic, minced
8 oz Portobello mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
1 green onion, sliced
1 1/2 cup heavy cream
salt
pepper
12 oz angel hair pasta
parsley for garnish 

Directions:
*Drain the red peppers. Place on paper towels and pat to dry. Slice.
*Heat oil in pan at medium high heat. When hot, add shrimp. Cook, turning once, just until the shrimp turn pink and are no longer translucent. Remove to a plate and keep warm.
*Add the portobellos, green onion and garlic to the pan. Lower the heat to medium. Cook and stir until the mushrooms start to brown and the green onions soften.
*While the mushrooms are sauteing, cook the angel hair pasta according to package directions.
*Add the red peppers, and cream to the pan with the mushrooms. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Reduce heat to medium low and bring to a boil, stirring now and then. Allow to gently boil for 5 minutes.
*Add the shrimp and cook just one more minute.
*Place the pasta in a serving bowl, top with the sauce and sprinkle with parsley.