Paris Enchants -- 75,000 and counting -- Former Colleagues -- May 29

So I'm getting into The Paris Wife.  The dialogue is sparkling and draws you in, with an interesting intimacy.  But then a shock to the system.  A word or phrase seeming somehow out of tune.  "Damned straight" and "fat chance" immediately come to mind.  Not unlike the shock of reading about a spaghetti dinner being prepared by Hadley Richardson (soon to be Mrs. Ernest Hemingway), in St. Louis.  The only way I can describe it is to refer to the movie, Somewhere in Time where Christopher Reeve manages to hypnotize himself into a turn-of-the-century setting, only to be brought back to the present when he finds a modern-day penny in his pocket, erasing the hypnotic effect of his time travel.  That's sort of the effect I perceive when the McLain's dialog seems to be polluted by more modern usage of words and terms.  I went so far as to consult my volume of Letters of T.S. Eliot (through 1922) just to see if the more colloquial use of language was evident.  It wasn't.  But then Thomas Stearns Eliot wasn't exactly all loose and unbuttoned about his writing, either!  I might be entirely wrong about the occasional term that seems anachronistic, it's just me.  Important thing is that I'm really glued to the book, which makes getting through a breeze!

My reading has taken Ernest and Hadley to Paris and their adventures in Europe.  I thought I'd see if I could locate their passport.  I have never seen a photo of Hadley (and the book doesn't contain one), and I knew that passports do contain photos. So here they are, from 1921:

The photos aren't that clear, unfortunately, but it is funny how you imagine characters to look, when told through the lens of a writer. 

 ***

Getting through the exercise routine wasn't such a breeze, however.  It was a trial and tribulation.  The weather was grey and I think I must get physically depressed when the weather turns.  I did everything I have been doing -- the 750 situps today totaled 75,000 for the year.  But for the three days of doubling up on the elliptical, I just quit at 600 (instead of 800 calories burned).  Not even the Rolling Stones energized me for that last lap!  

***

 In the afternoon Jen and I attended the retirement open house for former Ferris State colleague, Rick Christner, whom we get together with from time to time with friends in common.  The event was hosted in Wheeler Pavilion and was very attended.  I had the chance to catch up with quite a number of people I haven't seen for quite a while.  The honors for Rick are well-deserved and I'm glad we were able to share the afternoon with the Christner family.

***

Late afternoon, owing to the rain that's been pouring over us for the past several days, it was clear so I tackled the front and side lawns.  I've been nursing some bare spots with grass seed and most of it has come up nicely.  Ultimately means more grass to grow, but it's nice to have things looking sharp.

***