Lucky Fifty-Two

The College Boy lost his phone, and after three weeks of believing it would turn up when he and his 10 roommates cleaned their house, (during which time I was threatening to purchase a kit of carrier pigeons), he has finally acquiesced that yes, the phone must be gone forever. (I bet it turns up when he moves out in two years.)

As our phone contract was set up many years ago, I am the one who must run all cell phone errands and rituals at times like this. I ventured into town this morning, to the mall, where the cell phone people are. I arrived exactly at 10:01 am, and I was lucky enough to be the first customer in the store. These phone rituals seem to take up too much time, in my opinion. I picked out a brightly-colored phone for the College Boy, which I will mail to him after I spray it with glow-in-the-dark paint.

On my way through the mall, I saw a tent surrounded by a group of nursery school-aged kids. Ah! It was a butterfly tent! How fun. I looked through the window: more nursery school kids, and their teachers. One little boy spied me and walked over to the window and held up his arm to show me the butterfly on his finger. Another boy further into the tent was GLEEFULLY giggling at the butterfly on his arm. I smiled at them. Around the tent was lots of activity with kids, teachers, and butterflies. Then I saw one little girl - crying hysterically and cowering by her teacher. That little girl was really upset. I'll bet she will have a story to tell her grandkids about the day she had to go on a field trip into a tent full of butterflies.

On through to the department store where I had parked my car, I stopped and did some quick shopping in the ladies department. When I paid for the goods, the saleslady noticed on my driver's license that it is my birthday toady. She is a bubbly young Asian woman. "Ah!"she said. "It is your birthday!" She looked at me. "Why you not wearing red today?! Red is lucky color." (She was wearing red.) I laughed, and asked her if she always wore red on her birthdays. "Of course. On birthday, on Christmas, first day of each month..." and then she spotted someone (I hope it was an acquaintance of hers) across the store. "See her? She is Asian. She wears red. Red is lucky." And yes, the Asian lady across the store was indeed in red.

So now, back home, I will take off my sea foam green turtleneck and look around for my one red thing: a ratty cotton cardigan, wearing which, I can't be seen in public. And I have a full evening of birthday celebration to commence! That Spouse o' Mine is out of town this week doing BioSystems things, and so I shall put on my old comfy sweats, my lucky red cardigan, pour myself a glass of lucky red wine (which that Spouse o' Mine bought for me yesterday...and he didn't even know it was lucky!), and I shall head up to the art room and see what fifty-two years of creativity shall bring forth.

I hope it's good.