Men With Purses?

I wonder how long it will before men will be carrying purses.

Everywhere I go, I see men with black canvas bags or dark leather satchels slug over one shoulder or strapped across their chests. Some brave guys carry bags that are brighter colors, orange or light blue, but most men seem comfortable with bags the color of shadows.

It's really not much of a jump from today's man bags to real purses with clasps instead of zippers, from rigid rectangles to soft pouches. And once that happens, you can say goodbye to back pockets, too. Men will no longer think they have to sit on their wallets. Instead, they will experience the joy of digging in their purses for their wallets and other valuables while their wives roll their eyes.

The KitchenAid Mixer

I've noticed that when I tell other women that I have purchased a KitchenAid mixer, they always ask the same question. "What color is it?"

I tell them I bought old-fashioned, plain white because the cherry red version was $50 more. Yes, yes, they agree, that makes sense and then go on to tell me that they want one in cherry red or mint green. One woman at work allowed that hers was white, too, but had racing stripes.

Apple has captured the imagination of many with its sleek white phone, but when it comes to mixers women want the opposite. They want them to be big and bulky, hefty shoulders that do all the work. And they want them in a rainbow of colors.

I wonder what it is about this mixer that makes it stand apart. Can you imagine asking anyone who bought a new dishwasher, microwave or washer whether they got the cherry red?

'Babe Ruth Bows Out'

After a long night of serving as a judge for a newspaper contest, I was walking down the corridor at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism when I was suddenly confronted with images from a bygone era. There on the white walls hung a dozen black-and-white photos taken by Nat Fein of the old New York Herald Tribune. I saw a vibrant JFK on the campaign trail and an endearing Albert Einstein in a tuxedo. But what stopped me in my tracks was the famous photo of Babe Ruth's last hurrah at the old Yankee Stadium in June 1948.

The frail legend is captured from behind, his Number 3 and the Yankee pinstripes so visible, as are the fans packed in the decks and the fellow players standing along the first baseline. http://www.vintagephotos.com/Nat%20Fein%20Babe%20Bows%20Out%20Page.htm

Why, I wondered, did Fein choose to shoot him from behind? What is it about the human form that telegraphs so much from the hunch of the shoulders and the set of the legs? Why did Fein forgo the drama of the Babe's face looking up at the adoring crowd?

A sign posted alongside the image said that Fein won a Pulitzer Prize for the photo. The Babe died two months later. I wondered if either of them had any inkling of the fate that was waiting in the wings for them.

Welcome, all those with a sense of wonder

The ducks returned to the backyard pool this morning, prompting me to launch this blog. It's intended to be a hub for all those who wonder about the world. The ducks, a male and female, arrive each spring as soon as the light is just right. They swim in the pool for about a month, and then fly off again. We do not know where they come from, or where they go. The mystery of that makes me wonder.

Before they arrived this morning, I told my husband I could sense they were coming today. I have no special knowledge, just a good memory of the crisp light that seems to portend their arrival.

They were roosting on the far side of the pool when I first saw them beyond the fence. I cooed to them, "Hello," I said over and ofter. The male came swimming toward me. He must have remembered that I have fed him chunks of bread year by year. It was not long before the female swam my way, too, to scoop her chunks of bread from the murky water on the pool cover.

If you've got a story to tell, a mystery to explore, or just a notion about your take on the world to share, you're welcome to do it here.