Blog Archive

Monday, September 28, 2009

letters to the dead, dahlias, and other daily things


Outside the wind has calmed a bit and the air is cool and buzzes with crickets. The sunflowers are heavy with seeds and rain; their faces almost brush the grass.

On my desk is a plate with the remains of an apple cake Bea and I baked this morning (she sitting on the counter, dropping whole apples into bowls and batter--I saved my hand-beater just in time) from orange, green, yellow, red local apples. Also there is the copy of my book for young readers (the first page scrunched by a zealous baby), an empty tea cup the color of an ostrich egg, a blinking answering machine, and an envelope, unaddressed. Inside the envelope is a letter Elspeth wrote last night by herself. I believe the page is covered in orange scribbles. She folded it up messily and asked for a case (envelope). After licking the flap multiple times and with great spirit, she sealed the letter and said, "It's for Greatgrandpa because he's dead. It says, 'I'll see you in heaven.'

So there it is. What to do?

Elspeth wrote a letter to a dead person and now she fully expects us to send it to him in the mail. Is the USPS up to the task, I wonder?
I close with a dahlia bestowed upon us by the lovely lady across the street.

If such a flower is REAL and actually grows upon a stem, surely a letter to a dead person can be delivered.