Of Pigs, Petunias and Pen Pals

Sign, omen or impetus? My M-W Word of the Day is svelte - an adjective used to describe someone slender, thin or graceful in an attractive way. A word that might have been used to describe moi in my younger days. 

It was used, in fact, by my new pen pal in reference to this photo of me costumed as Miss Piggy during my appearance in the homecoming parade back in the 80's. 

Did you know Miss Piggy was from Iowa (Keystone)? I did not until my pen pal told me. And is pen pal correct if you are communicating by email?

Was it my love of pigs that gave me the impetus to portray Miss Piggy? I don't remember, but the word of the day was my impetus for finally writing about pen pals.

I remember having a pen pal when I was in grade school. My first one was from some kind of list. I don't remember the girl's name nor where she lived.

This was my 7th grade school picture. My friend Virginia gave me her cousin Eleanor's address. I wrote to her asking her to be my pen pal. We only exchanged two or three letters. 

When I was in 8th grade my teacher gave me her niece's name and address and we corresponded quite a bit. I even went to her 8th grade graduation with my teacher.

My cousin Lila had much better luck with her pen pal. They began writing to one another when she was young. Their correspondence lasted sixty some years. (And still may be ongoing.)

I know Lila's daughter, Valerie, drove her to Delaware? New Jersey? - one of the east coast states - where Lila and her pen pal finally met in person.

(Not apropos to this post, but as a means of informing family members, sadly Val died yesterday after being on dialysis some time.)

I probably won't get to meet my new email pal (doesn't have the same ring, does it?) in person even though we both live in the same state and along the same highway. But I'm enjoying getting to know her via the internet. She contacted me after first finding my blog while searching about an old saying and then seeing my blog about the swans at Green Valley State Park followed very soon after when she saw my swan photo used by Channel 13 weather.

In her first email she wrote about how much we seemed to have in common and gave several examples. She even closed with one of my favorite Rumi quotes. I was really exhilarated by her reaching out to me. To use a current saying - I felt 'seen'. (Recognized and accepted.) But with all the scams out there, I was a little leery. Luckily she had given me her name as well as her email address. By searching her name and town, I was reassured that she wasn't a catfisher.

I wrote right back to her - and then heard nothing. I was let down, disappointed and worried again that it may have somehow been a scam. That all happened in February. I got over it. Then last month she contacted me again after reading my post about the Pink Full Moon, wondering if the tornado that hit our area April 26 had affected us, wondering if I had received her original message to me as she had not heard back. 

Wow, so she hadn't changed her mind about staying in contact. I wrote back immediately and told her I had answered her. Somehow my message went astray. But I was so glad she tried again. We have been exchanging emails ever since. Learning about each other, our families - and even more about the ways we are alike. I owe her a letter, but before I leave this blog post.....

..... here are the petunias I mentioned in the title.

I am so glad I decided to get this color of petunias for these planters.

Early this morning when I took the photo they were practically shining in the cloudy morning dimness. 

I thought: ghost flowers. 

And then a black cat, almost a shadow, crossed the deck. No bad luck yet.