Invisible Woman

I was planning to write about my recent closet/paradigm shift dilemma, but then this happened, the Invisible Woman at the top of my stairs. This, in addition to candy and doodads, is how I am celebrating Halloween.

There is a connection. The skirt she wears is a summer skirt, recently moved from my closet to elsewhere (my daughter's closet) to make room for cold-weather clothes in the annual closet shift. The shirt is long-sleeved, so appropriate for the current season (and stuffing with tissue paper), but a man's shirt with buttons on the other side (from my perspective). The boots (in the shadows) will have to be rescued soon for seasonal use.

Here she is at the top of the stairs, like any scary thing. My husband and I still get freaked out by her, any time we exit the bathroom or bedroom. The kids are coming for a visit, and, if they don't read my blog in time, they are in for a surprise. She's right outside their bedrooms, too!

The thing I was realizing is that I haven't fully made the paradigm shift from isolation to...less isolation...so I will not be prepared for the possible lifting of the state mask mandate in time for the holidays, which is the gossip in the news right now. We were sort of shoved into the isolation paradigm with the "stay at home" order in March 2020, and I got used to all that, even when I went back to work. I don't think I will be able to go into public places without a mask for a longish time... Talk about scary things!

The chalk board poems continue. Perhaps this one fits the Invisible Woman! In fact, my phone often tells me "fingerprint not recognized," and, indeed, my fingerprints seem to be fading away due to years of work with paper and plastic and/or aging. Sometimes the parking garage touch screen rejects me, too. It's weird to be slipping away. One day a man in my workplace asked if my husband was still alive. It gave me pause. (Turns out he had met my husband in another context, alive and well!!) My kids see me as looking younger than my age, but they haven't seen me for a while. Wonder what they will think?