Iced Tea, Popsicles and Downton Abbey
/By my calculations, this wretched sinus/bronchitis junk should’ve been out of here by now, but it’s lingered on like John Belushi in “The Thing That Wouldn’t Leave.” I am still coughing, blowing my nose, and dragging around like a snail, only instead of slime, I’m leaving a trail of tissues behind me. I feel better, I’m no longer contagious, but darn it, I get tired easily...
I’m not sure what topic to land on today, although several are starting to formulate in my NyQuil induced brain. Maybe I’ll just write about how thankful I am that someone invented iced tea, because I’ve drank 3 gallons since last Wednesday. Or maybe I’ll pay homage to the dude who concocted Popsicles. That frozen sugar water delight has saved my throat and my life this past week. Or maybe I’ll write an ode to Downton Abbey, a show I binge watched while laid up on my couch. I don’t know why I’d never watched it before, when all my friends and family kept telling me how wonderful it was. I think I resisted because it looked like another boring British show with drawing rooms, tea (well, after this sickness, I don’t mind that quite so much), snobbery, and horses...things I’ve never fully embraced. Especially snobbery and horses. I can’t abide being around a snob and horses just scare me half to death. Anyway, I digress from the point...what was the point...on yeah...Downton Abbey. Sorry, drifting a little there...I have, in fact, become a fan of Downton Abbey, so much so that I want to have a ladies party where we all dress elegantly in long gowns and consume scones. I have found a kindred spirit in the Dowager Countess...Her one liners are epic, and I only hope to shock my family half as well when I reach her age.
Watching that show made me realize that life really wasn’t more simple back in the day. There was a rigid hierarchy that had to be obeyed, and it was a minefield to maneuver. Call this one by their title, curtesy to that one, wear this for dinner, but wear that after eight o’clock...I would’ve never lasted. I think we make a mistake when we say times were “simpler.” Times weren’t necessary simpler...people were just as complex back then as they are now. Life was more regimented and roles were more defined. That’s the difference.
I am not an extremely smart woman. Most of the time, I’m rather thick. However, my lightening quick mind can make a leap from the 1920’s to modern era lifestyle. I don’t necessarily think one is better than the other. I think one is more gracious than the other, but one is also more rigid than the other. I am too sleepy to write more tonight, and after re-reading this, I’m not sure I need to do so. I can only plead too much iced tea and NyQuil. And quite possibly too much Downton Abbey. Cheerio, my friends!
The incomparable Maggie Smith as the Dowager Countess. I am thinking of doing a slideshow of my favorite fashions from the show. What do you all think?
