I tuck my chin in towards my chest and squint against the dust swirling around me. The Mistral winds have arrived out of nowhere. They sneak and slide, having all but pushed Summer, that swanning girl, out the door. Instinctively, I reach up and pull my scarf tighter around my ears.
It is my old Hermes scarf, my favorite that has travelled with me all over the world. Objects come into our lives, some disappear mysteriously, others stay. I try not to be too attached but there are pieces that give comfort. They tell me of who I once was and remind me of where I am now.
No one wanted this particular scarf, bought on ebay for 50 Euros. Already, it was trouée, a whole in one corner and touched by a slight ink stain. It was exactly what I was searching. Something I could wear hard without the guilt of ruination. Nothing precious and yet appreciated. A little glamour, linking back to another life before of glorious Manhattan to carry into the desert of the unknown.
I held it over my mouth during a sandstorm in Mali. Covered my head with it in Samarkand, folded the worn parts under to look chic in Udaipur. And in one of my favorite moments des mes voyages, I wrapped it over my hat with a firm bow under my chin while crossing the Serengeti, clinging to my sweetheart on the top of a barreling truck, exposed to the wind. Smiling so hard it hurt from the excitement of being.
The Mistral carries a different tune but flaps my scarf with the same song. The dogs run out ahead along the quay of the Rhone and I follow quietly in my quiet life. So soundless with nothing but the howl of the wind that I could wonder if I really did have those adventures or only dreamed them. My hand reaches up instinctively again to be sure, to secure this object, now frayed, luxury lost but memory-filled. A talisman.
PS. Thank you to all who responded so honestly and thoughtfully regarding my previous post.
I have a very exciting follow-up to it, coming soon…
PPS. – Thank you for all of your amazing responses! We are out of town and I will respond correctly next week…
Merci Jackie…it is a subject that you love well too…
I thought that you would appreciate this N (although it is not the Hermes story that I promised you a while back, sigh). And yes Miss, I did model it in a recent post:
http://lostinarles.blogspot.fr/2013/10/kings-of-mountain.html
I really have worn it to pieces and especially love it as it is a carré, not a foulard and so much more practical for everyday…
And I know how important your family history is to you, Judith. And that includes the current one! 🙂 Who would have ever thought that such a pitcher could be so important? We must all have such details in our lives…
I love your scarf. I have two favorites which both have small holes. I think it was a zipper in my case. Thanks for writing about this. The holes don't seem like such a bad thing now. 🙂
'They sneak and slide, having all but pushed Summer, that swanning girl, out the door.'
WOW!
'Something I could wear hard without the guilt of ruination.'
Magnifique.
'Smiling so hard it hurt from the excitement of being.'
Happy lump in my throat.
An ode fit for peasants like me. 🙂
What a beautiful post about a special treasure. . .memories.
I love that scarf with its beauty marks and story!! Hope you model it for us too! X
Ah, I agree with Jeanne. In fact, yesterday I panicked when I couldn't find this little pitcher that I keep in the laundry room to fill the iron with. It is in the shape of a revolutionary soldier with a tri-cornered hat. It is nothing I would ever pick out for myself but it came from an elderly friend, who lived in my grandmother's house and who gave it to me right before she moved out after my grandmother passed away. It's a little piece of my history.
Why does that not surprise me in the least, dear Jeanne? Thank you for your lovely and wise response. Bisous…
This scarf is so much more beautiful than any of the shining new ones under glass at a Hermes store. I love that it has had such a rich life – even before you found it and brought it along on your adventures. I know we shouldn't get too attached to objects and things (something hammered home when we moved my parents last spring). But as you say there are some pieces of our lives that become symbols and talismans. I have several – usually the littlest things that remind me of people and places and parts of my life that I've loved. And there's at tattered Hermes scarf among them, too. XOXO