Deus, in adjutorium meum intende. Domine, ad adjuvandum me festina.
O God, come to my assistance. O Lord, make haste to help me.
Before I continue with the singular advice from our little Every Day Cookbook, I must give explanation of the name Maud Muller in yesterday's essay. I am so ashamed that I forgot her. She is the heroine of a poem (1856) by John Greenleaf Whittier. Maud is a maid, who while working at haying in the field meets a local judge who is passing by. They are attracted to each other. She dreams of being a judge's wealthy wife. He dreams of being a bucolic farmer. Neither speaks of this and they go their ways. He marries a wealthy woman who loves him for his money. She marries a poor farmer. All their lives they do reminisce about what might have been. Here's why I should have remembered this poem - for its famous quote: "For of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these, 'It might have been.' "
Now first, let us speak of footwear. As one who from early years has had no less than 20 pairs of shoes, boots, slippers, whatever shelters my tender toes, in closets wherever I've lived, and find it almost impossible to pass a shoe store without at least looking - I wondered at the admonishment - which could apply today with the ridiculous stilletto heels popular - that High-Heeled Boots Must Go.
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A lady looks infinitely taller and slimmer in a long dress than she does in a short costume, and there is always a way of showing the feet, if desired, by making the front quite short, which gives, indeed, a more youthful appearance to a train dress. The greatest attention must, of course, be paid to the feet with these short dresses, and I may here at once state that high heels are absolutely forbidden by fashion. Doctors, are you content? Only on cheap shoes and boots are they now made, and are only worn by common people. A good bootmaker will not make high heels now, even if paid double price to do so. Ladies - that is, real ladies - now wear flat-soled shoes and boots, a la Cinderella. For morning walking, boots or high Moliere shoes are worn.
If you wear boots you may wear any stockings you like, for no one sees them. but if you wear shoes you must adapt your stockings to your dress. Floss silk, Scotch thread, and even cotton stockings are worn for walking, silk stocking have returned into exclusively evening wear. Day stockings should be of the same color as the dress, but they may be shaded or stripped (sic), or dotted, just as you please. White stockings are absolutely forbidden for day wear - no one wears them - no one dares wear them under fashion's interdiction.
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So, ladies, let us not be common. Discard those high heels and be sure your day stockings match your dress - jeans? - I don't know if I prefer dots or stripes, and NEVER will I be caught wearing white stockings for daytime. Frankly, I like colored anklets that match my t-shirts. Now - we are told Don't Stoop. This advice is aimed at boys this time. However, not my grandmother, but grandfather was the stand-up-straight admonisher for me. And yes, girls who believe themselves too tall will also stoop. It isn't a pretty sight.
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Grandmother has noticed that some of her boys lately have acquired a very bad habit. They go about with their backs bent, as if they were fifty (!) years old and were bearing the responsibilities of age on their shoulders. This is all wrong. Stand up straight, boys; don't go around with a "stoop in your back," as if you had a curvature of the spine. If you do, depend upon it, you will have it sure enough long before you get to be old. Always stand erect, and when you walk, throw back your shoulders, and take that kink out of your backbone. This is easier said than done, isn' it? Grandmother will tell you just how you can do it, and remember every word she says, for she has been through it all herself, and has straightened p many a grandchild in more respects than one. Here is her rule:
Throw Up Your Chin!
The whole secret of standing and walking erect consists in keeping the chin well away from the breast. This throws the head upward and backward, and the shoulders will naturally settle backward and in their true position. Those who stoop in walking generally look downward. The proper way is to look straight ahead, upon the same level with your eyes, or if you are inclined to stoop, until that tendency is overcome, look rather above than below the level. Mountaineers are said to be as "straight as an arrow," and the reason is because they are obliged to look upward so much. It is simply impossible to stoop in walking if you will heed and practice this rule. You will notice that all round shouldered persons carry the chin near the breast and pointed downward. Take warning in time, and heed grandmother's advice, for a bad habit is more easily prevented than cured. The habit of stooping when one walks or stands is a bad habit and especially hard to cure.
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Ah, those mountaineers. Look up! Look up! Head up. Shoulders back. Chin out. Stand up straight! Climb every mountain.......oh, wait.....
11/23/13
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