Bonny and blithe are almost synonymous (so think dumb and dumber, one of my favorite movies, btw, but so is amelie). Bonny= attractive, fair fine, excellent. Or imagine a Scot in a kilt tellin’ ya what a bonny lass ya are. And blithe is “of a happy or lighthearted character or disposition.” But really, bonny and blithe is inspired by several people, my daughter, Elsa Marie, and two of her great-grandmothers, Lestie and Marie. My mamaw Lestie filled my head with nursery rhymes such as “married in red, wish yourself dead.” So I married wearing a white gown, naturally. Another that she taught me was about the Sabbath child. “Monday’s child is fair of face…” I am Monday’s child, and Elsa, born on the Sabbath, well, the pertinent part goes:
But the child who is born on the Sabbath day
is bonny and blithe and good and gay.
My mamaw Marie gave me my first camera (a Polaroid, the Button) and encouraged my love of photography. As a Baltimore teen, she modeled for a photographer and “retouched” his prints of her enhancing her eyebrows, lips, etc. by drawing them in after the fact. Undoubtedly there was a photographer inside her dying to get out. She snapped lots of photos with her Polaroid documenting her family over the years.
And Elsa. I love shooting photos of her, but naturally, she won’t pose. But you will, right?
Bonny and blithe is inspired by my grandmothers and my daughter, three beloved women, only one of whom is in my life today.
Who am I, then? Rebecca Tolley-Stokes. If you need more than that, click and learn.
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