Growing up thirty miles from Philadelphia, with everyone in my family born and raised there, spending time downtown shopping with my mom, sightseeing, visiting my nana, the City of Brotherly Love is not only woven throughout my childhood memories and my own adult traditions, it is part of my DNA.
My love of history and the events that took place so close to home when our country was being formed has continued to be a big interest of mine and those closest to me know it. A dearest of dear friends has given me such fun gifts over the years, thoughtfully chosen and purchased, bringing my red, white and blue heart so much joy.
The most recent, this guy:
Combining my disposition for nightly soaks in some bubbles and my passion for our founding fathers, Ben sits on the side of my tub and makes me Yankee Doodle happy.
Sometimes, the rubber mutation of the man who said, “Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, clothes, or habitation”, will wind up afloat in the tub and I won’t notice. I will lay back to relax and something will touch my leg. The contact scares the liberty out of me. Splashing into an upright position, at first I don’t know what the black thing bobbing is: A bug? A tiny mouse? It looks like a dark something to me against a backdrop of suds. It only takes a few seconds to realize it’s Ben, I figure since we are bathing together I can call him “Ben”, but it takes longer for my pulse to slow down.
How does this get me every time? I suppose that after a day of hyper-vigilance walking, remembering where I put things, all the moment-to-moment diligence needed when visually challenged, the bathtub at the end of the day is where I can finally let my guard down. And that is the only explanation I can offer for being surprised by a rubber duck that I put there.
At the end of the day, as is the timeframe, it’s funny. And, yes, I have shed a lot of tears over my compromised eyesight but I have also laughed at the absurdities. And what is more ridiculous than a novelty toy of Benjamin Franklin scaring me while I bathe? I think the man who said, “She laughs at everything you say. Why? Because she has fine teeth.”, would agree.
