Wrinkly Bits
A Blog by Gail Cushman
In my traveling, I’ve become somewhat of a collector and collect two things: thimbles (upward from 300), and scarves (upward from 10). Both are small, meaning easy to pack for the trip back home. I can smash them into the corner of a suitcase and they’ll be fine when we return to Montana. No worries. They give good memories of where we went and the fun we had. Thimbles are also cheap, which is a plus. Thimbles usually cost about $3.00 to $5.00, American. They don’t break the bank and shelving them gives Cowboy something to do when we return home. Scarves are similar, often with a story, but more expensive, so I have fewer. For example, my scarf from: I have a scarf from Viet Nam, pseudo-silk, AKA polyester, offered by a street vendor at $20, final price of 7 for $20, or $2 each and a good story.
Prices in Argentina were scary, as inflation has hit them hard. One American dollar equals 1400 pesos, so when we bought a 4000-peso cup of coffee, it really cost us about $3.00. But still, we’re looking at the 4000-peso cup of joe, sticker shock with two 4000-peso donuts. After seeing 16,000-pesos on the American Express card, we continued our trek to see what we could see. I spied a Hermes store with a window full of beautiful scarves. They sold only silk scarves, and we had to ask permission to enter the store, which is not uncommon in other parts of the world.
My scarf of choice had a price tag saying 402,065 +pesos. After the 16,000-peso mid-morning snack, it seemed like a real bargain. When I get more than two zeros on a dollar amount, my brain stops working and my limited Spanish vocabulary didn’t really translate pesos to the American dollar. The Cowboy noticed I was drooling, and said to the clerk, “Do you take American Express?” She nodded and he signed and into a bag the scarf went. A 402,065-peso scarf boxed and packaged. Beautiful.
I didn’t translate the amount until we arrived home and now, the guilt is flowing over me as of I were standing under Niagara Falls, soaked to the gills. I won’t tell you the real cost, as it would scare the dickens out of you, but you can figure it out for yourself. I’ll wear my Hermes, you’d better believe it. All I can say is we got trapped by Hermes, the Greek God of Travelers. But what a scarf!
GOOD NEWS FOR YOU! We are having an Amazon sale. For one week (May 4—8), Murder in the Parsonage will be free on Amazon. This is number one book in the Maggie Monroe series and is a great place to start, Free! Mother’s Day is on the horizon, so send her a book. My treat!
And GOOD NEWS FOR YOU and ME! The Maggie Monroe series (five books) and the Wrinkly Bits series (four books) are now on Audible. They will be good reads for summer listening, in the car, at the mountains, or on the beach. They will make you laugh! As an aside…while we were putting the Wrinkly Bits series on Audible, Cowboy listened to the books again, and he laughed all the while. They are the first books I wrote, funny and good stories. I think I need to write another one!
And don’t forget Loving Again, our co-authored book. It continues to be popular among men and women of a certain age, in United Kingdom, Canada and the good ole USA. It offers advice about how to online date when you are older than dirt! It is not on Audible, but available through Amazon or my website.gailcushman.com.
