Today is a wonderful day

Carson McCullers:

"Writing, for me, is a search for God." 

Today I became my own friend and follower.  I can't tell you how special it feels.  It's like having two of me.  I always wanted to be my own best friend and follow myself around; I didn't know it could be so easy.  I thought the authorities would give me a hard time, tell me it couldn't be done.  I hope I don't get on my nerves; it seems a bit like breathing down my own neck, or looking at myself from over my own shoulder.  It says down there on the right of the page that I am a member, not just a friend and a follower, but a member! Imagine that.  Not only am I my coat, but the lining of my coat too. Me and my feet inside my shoes can follow myself down the street to see where I'm going.     This brings to mind one of my favorite stories: The Member of the Wedding by Carson McCullers.
 
"It happened that green and crazy summer when Frankie was twelve years old. This was the summer when for a long time she had not been a member. She belonged to no club and was a member of nothing in the world. Frankie had become an unjoined person who hung around in doorways, and she was afraid."

In the film version of this story, Frankie is played by 27 year old Julie Harris.

Here she is with Ethel Waters and Carson McCullough during a break.

By the way, Ethel Waters is not buried in my back yard. Well, not exactly my back yard, but in the cemetery on the other side of the fence that runs across my back yard. No, she is not there. I mention this only because for the longest time, up until a few minutes ago when I checked on her whereabouts at Find A Grave I believed that she was back there. I believed that because someone, I can't remember who, told me so. I have to work on my tendency to believe what I'm told. I am certain though, that Bessie Smith is back there, but that's another story. Ethel is another story too. Actually, this story started out being about me, so I suppose you could say that Carson McCullers and Julie Harris are each another story as well. Oh boy, how I digress, which is not necessarily a bad thing. If I hadn't digressed I would never have found out that Ethel Waters is not buried in my back yard. Well, not exactly my back yard.

 I love this picture of Frankie taking a splinter out of her foot with a knife.