– improvisational reaction to a word received in my In Box from Dictionary.com
chary, CHAIR-ee, adjective
- Wary; cautious.
- Not giving or expending freely; sparing.
Since October 5 is my wife Geraldine’s birthday it’s best not to be chary on this particular day. Better to be incautious, unsparing, profligate. A bit over the top. Not recklessly wasteful, but leaning a tad to the extravagant side of town will do no harm. Will continue the domestic bliss we reside in. Wary with my funds I will not be on a day of this great magnitude. A big bouquet of fresh lilies coming in the door with me will be a good start. But not all of it. Chocolates, of course, will have to make an appearance. And I don’t mean one of those 3-packs of bon bons from the corner grocery. I mean a 25 piece selection from Jacques Torres of nutty pralines, pure ganaches and others with exotic spice infusions. A little time with those, some hugs and kisses for sure. Then the main event, the removal of a box hidden behind a bunch of books in my studio with the hand knit sweater from Canadian Sweater Company I know she desires but doesn’t want to spend her own money on. Hint. Hint. (Took it this time!) It costs a couple of bucks, as the saying goes. But so what. What’s a few President Grants to keep utopia running another year? Seriously. It’s a small sum indeed. Eight bills of dead President 18, in fact, before tax and delivery. And while my pen skipped a bit of white space as I was writing that, I’ve already given in to it, acceptance being Step 1 in recovering from my sparing ways. It’s like walking in the rain in that once you stop being cautious, when you finally accept you’re going to get soaked, you can just enjoy it. You can skip along in it, sing and dance, kick your way through the puddles. Just have fun. You get home, you stamp your shoes on the mat, you take off your wet clothes and bingo, you’re back to being your usual dull self. And this day is much like a rainy day. It’s a day to give it up and splash some cash around. To spend freely. It will make me a little lighter in the wallet for sure, but hey, like I said about keeping utopia running, it’s not for the chary.
(2015)
Paul Perilli 