The plan for today is to keep working on Book 7 of the Neverending Saga. For some reason, I’m in the mood to listen to Holland, a classic Beach Boys album among Beach Boys fans and collectors.
Thinking of Holland in general, I decided to show this assortment of items from the dresser in the master bedroom. From left to right, that’s a ginger jar that belonged to my mother and still has potpourri that she put in it. (I don’t think it has a lot of scent anymore.) On the bottom, she wrote “Lola, 2001,” so possibly it was a gift to her from Aunt Lola. Next to that is a blue and white candle bowl which may have come from Bombay Company. If so, it was likely a gift from my mother to me (she liked to shop there for me, and I liked their merchandise). The three in the middle: a small ashtray, a windmill, and two Dutch boys sharing a kiss, were all gifts from our friend Steve C after he went to The Netherlands one year. On the far right is a vintage vase that Tom’s parents gave us from his grandmother’s house after she died. She was the only one of his grandparents that I got to meet, and I just adored her mischievous humor.
Behind these items is the Holland doll from the Arco Gasoline Dolls of the World collection. I had several of those when I was a child, and somehow they were donated or discarded. A few years ago, I replaced the ones I’d had thanks to the magic of eBay!
I rewatched 1998’s Hope Floats this morning. It’s categorized as a RomCom, and I do really like it, but I’d forgotten how sad it is, too. I’d also forgotten how uncomfortable the beginning is, because it hits a little too close to home related to an incident from my past. Thankfully, my humiliation wasn’t televised in every time zone. That part will go well with what I’m currently writing.
The main reason I picked the film was to honor the late Gena Rowlands, who plays Sandra Bullock’s mother and is a longtime favorite of mine. In mid-August, I edited a post from July 25 to note that Gena Rowlands had died on August 14. I’ve appreciated seeing so many tributes to her on Instagram. She truly was a gifted actor with a long career.
ETA: Couldn’t resist some of these photos that have shown up on Instagram of John Cassavetes and Gena Rowlands. Their longevity as a couple seems like an uncommon thing in their business.
I have been to the Netherlands twice – both times to Amsterdam – once on pleasure (but not that sort of pleasure) and once on business. I would definitely go again, though I would like to see more of the country. I brought back tulips from Amsterdam for Mum.
Sometimes I think about, when I envy the way Europeans travel, how many states I’ve been to in the U.S. I counted once, and I think it was at least forty. There are differences between states, definitely in the topography/scenery, as well as architecture. But I always know I’m in the states and can understand the language even with our array of dialects. So it’s not the same as going to different countries, and I never even had a passport to visit Mexico or Canada…
From what I gather, not having a passport is quite common for Americans. I guess there’s no need when one lives in such a huge country with so great diversity of landscape? However, European countries are mostly tiny in comparison (not least the UK) and the coast of France is only a few miles from the coast of Kent. I am grateful for the diversity on my doorstep.
It’s definitely a reason for gratitude! If I lived in England, I’d have visited all my neighbors, especially as an American who feels like she has some kind of deep connections there. I do like to travel by car, and I’ve taken many road trips alone and with Tom and others. It’s just not feasible right now.