Beauty and happiness, according to Gloria

Examples of embroidery on vintage kimonos.

With thanks for the photo to Ruby Lane Vintage.

Another Ruby Lane treasure.

The list of things which caused Gloria happiness was long.  She did not edit or attempt to shorten it.  Beauty in its uncountable forms was a sufficient theme, as it could indicate something for the eye to behold, something to taste, smell, feel, hear.  A nourishment for the senses, as she offered at the shop, a nourishment that had become more substantial for all those present when The Reading Man arrived with his Noel Coward, then Dickens.  She would not be at all surprised to learn that he sang well, too.  Singing might, however, turn the shop into a cabaret.  She would need an additional license, one for entertainment.  She could see the progression - strolling violinists, close-up magic, scenes from Shakespeare, cocktails, a neon sign.

In rare moments when stress threatened her equilibrium, Gloria felt herself lean back into what was beautiful, its firm, gentle embrace cushioning any fall.  We are all tortoises, she thought, whom circumstance would see flipped over onto our shells.  Beauty is the handy rock by which we can, with effort, maneuver our limbs and engineer an escape from peril.  Beauty is the secret weapon in our bag of tricks.