Saturday, February 9, 2019

Why Third Things

There was not a shortage of books in my house growing up. I was blessed to have grown up being read to on the regular. Some books were read more than others. One of such books was “Miss Rumphius” story and pictures by Barbara Cooney. I’m sure we had it for the lovely story as well as the beautiful artwork. Many people simply call it “The Lupine Lady.” I was once in a bookstore and overheard two women asking for “The Lupine Lady.” Being the over involved person I am, I intervened for the confused sales person and  helped the women locate the book. I’ve recorded a video of myself reading the book and you can view it here.

In the story Alice tells her Uncle that “I too will travel the world, and I too will grow old and live by the sea.” Her uncle says “that is all very well little Alice, but there is a third thing you must do....you must do something to  make the world more beautiful.” No spoilers here but read to the end people. It gets even better. 
When I social media (yep, it’s a verb now), it’s my hope that I’m sharing all of “My Third Things.” As my friend Sara pointed out, I have many things that make the (my) world beautiful. I try to embrace things that make my world more beautiful whether that is teaching, cooking, knitting, sewing...maybe even thinking. 

When I told my dad my idea, I was driving home from somewhere. He started reciting the book to me. My heart swelled so big. 

This book holds memories and hopes. 

I’m not a plant expert by any means but everywhere I have lived I have found a familiar lupine plant friend in one variety or another. The discovery has typically been accompanied by a gleeful cry of “luuuuupines!” They can be noted by their cone shaped flower and their leaf pattern. 

One day, several years ago, I was walking, telling my sister all about the beautiful lupines in bloom and remembering the story. That afternoon, or maybe the next I heard my doorbell ring. There on my porch was a lovely little bouquet of lupines, accompanied by the most adorable giggles coming from around the corner. Melt my heart. 

Or the surprise lupines for my birthday from Raechel, even though both of us have memorable speeches burned into our brains about leaving flowers on the plant for longer enjoyment.

Lastly, my name Jessie Harper, is not necessarily unique or original. (Though I love my naming story. I’ll tell it to you sometime.) There are many Jessie Harper usernames taken up across the inter webs. I recently noticed that my name has three E’s. And that a capital E backwards is a three. So, once again the theme of thirds and threes shows up in my online persona which you may sometimes see as J3SSI3HARP3R. Three threes for three E’s and my third things, as Jessie Harper. 

Wrap all that up in a nice bow. It makes me happy. 

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