Musings
an Online Journal of Sorts

By Alyce Wilson

On Sunday, we met The Artist and her husband for brunch. They were in Philadelphia to visit friends who live in the University City area.

I suggested we meet at the Marathon Grill at 40th and Walnut, which has a good menu and an airy, contemporary decor.

The Gryphon and I arrived first and secured a booth for six.

When they arrived, I went out front to greet them, and they introduced me to their friends. The guy, a tax lawyer, was a long-time friend of The Artist's husband; they'd gone to high school together. The woman, who works in the music section at a downtown Borders, had a British accent, which I initially mistook for Australia, since she talked really softly and I could barely make out what she said. Sometimes I just resorted to nodding and smiling, so I hope I didn't inadvertently agree to wear a puffy shirt on national television.

The conversation at the table ranged from politics to pets, since all of us have cats and therefore, cat stories. We had a lot of fun trying to top each other with our pets' silly and outrageous behavior.

Since The Artist hadn't been able to make it to my bridal shower, she brought my present with her. At the end of the meal, I decided to open it. Now, The Gryphon happened to be sitting closer to the present, and he announced that he was going to open this one because he hadn't had a chance to open any yet.

I said, "Well, that's because it's a bridal shower. It's for the bride." I promised him he'll get to open plenty of wedding presents when we receive them. So he relinquished it to me.

Since several of the gifts I received at my bridal shower came from our wedding registry, I can understand how he might have gotten confused. However, that's n0t always the way bridal showers work nowadays. Often, the gifts are more personal and just for the bride.

The gift was lovely: a ceramic oil burner shaped like an elephant. You put a small candle inside it, with essential oil in a little indentation on top. As the oil heats up, it disperses smell into the room. This is similar to when I used to put bowls of water with drops of essential oil on them on my heater. Except prettier.

Of course, it will sit on the dresser so our kitty, Luke, doesn't investigate it or mistake it for a luxury water dish.

After several refills of coffee, we settled our bill and walked outside to decide what to do next. While a couple people made a grocery run in Whole Foods, across the street from the Marathon Grill, The Artist walked with me back to my car, where I dropped off the present and my jacket, which I no longer needed.

She wanted to hear more about the wedding dress, which I described to her. We talked about other girlie things, as well, before rejoining everyone.

Then we all headed down 40th Street to do a little window shopping. We were drawn into a used book store by an adorable black and white kitty, who was lying in the front doorway as if to entice us inside. We were joking around that the cat has been trained to attract customers this way.

As it was, they made three sales out of it, as The Gryphon and I both bought books and so did the soft-spoken Brit. While we were in the store, my sister called to let me know how to spell her husband's proper name. I only ever refer to him by his shortened name, and since I'm spelling hers out on the wedding invitation I wanted to spell his out, as well.

After the bookstore, we walked another block to a coffee shop so The Artist, The Gryphon and I could get some water. I was relieved to stop somewhere with a restroom; the coffee had caught up with me.

We took our drinks to a nice area across the street, an industrial looking sculpture that provides tons of seating at different levels. As we sat down, lounging around in various positions, I said I felt like we were in some sort of '80s Brat Pack movie.

At about 4:15, we had to say our good-byes, so that The Gryphon could get home to get his stuff before his weekly meeting of PAGE (Philadelphia Area Game Enthusiasts). While he was at it, I sorted some papers that I'd stuck in a box when my sister visited. As I did so, I watched the rest of the first season of "Soap", which I'd rented from Blockbuster Online. I used to love that series, and I'm happy to discover that it's as good as I remembered it. A great ensemble cast, and lots of surprises in the plot.

Copyright 2006 by Alyce Wilson

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