Princess Summerfall Winterspring*

I do not like puppets. There, I said it. I think I am safe, now that "the children are grown" to admit to this. I suffered through Mr. Rogers, love him, dislike the puppets, Sesame street, love the music, can't stand the puppets. Punch and Judy? Nope, no love there at all. Worse than puppets are dummies and worse that all of them are marionettes. Marionettes have strings that get very, very tangled.

OK, now that I have that out of my system I must say what a very perfect day yesterday was.

A day, when the first thing you do in the morning, as soon as the coffee is brewed, is get outside and head for the river's edge.
A day well into November, with sunshine so warm the outdoor shower beckoned. I realized, too late, the rose quartz rock bench does not hold the warmth of the sun in autumn, but I'm tough.
A day when you have an hour on "someones couch" and come away feeling smarter than when you went in.
A day to stretch your muscles with others equally unstretchy, and laugh off the fact it took you FOUR tries to pop the ball through the hoop.
A day when the only real work you have to do is glitter pink turkeys.
A special note in the mail, a call from my daughter.
A candlelit dinner at the kitchen counter with the man who will go down in history for saying to me recently, "You have years of not playing to make up for." That was in response to me saying, "all I ever want to do is play". To remove all doubt, the man is my husband.

So yesterday, in summer flip flops, I darted past spring flowers, with winter berry toes, over fall leaves to the shower, feeling quite like a princess.

* "One of several Native American characters to appear on The Howdy Doody Show, Princess Summerfall Winterspring's popularity surpassed that of her male counterpart, Chief Thunderthud. She was graceful, ponytailed, and dressed in what was considered at the time as a faithful representation of traditional tribal regalia. Her origins were of the fictional Tinka Tonka tribe.

Like everyone else on the show, she had the opportunity to interact with host Buffalo Bob in skits and segments where she was prominently featured. Along with the other female regulars on the show, she gave little girl viewers a character easier to relate to than the boyish Howdy Doody.

The royal girl bears one other significant distinction: unlike the other puppets, Princess Summerfall Winterspring became a real-life girl in 1951."