https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/436947
Postcard Story – Boating – Edouard Manet
Oldest Grandson – 09/14/21
…and the sailing was smooth and easy, the wind with just a…touch of warmth, the… kiss…of the breeze within the sails, steady and pleasant, the day bright and… And yet, she did not speak, only the polite exchange as she entered his boat, her words, he thought as he had hoped, warm and gracious as she had taken his offered hand to help her step into the gently rocking boat, he so conscious of her small delicate hand, the skin so soft and yielding, within the enormity, it seemed, of his open hand, calloused in places. And looking at him, she had smiled softly as he lifted the sail, and the breeze, lured by the gently flowing river, took them into the water calm, the late morning sunlight coloring the ripples and murmuring currents with an infinite palette of golds and whites and ever-changing mauves. She had easily settled comfortably in the boat, upon the cushions he had remembered to bring, as it seemed, to him, how she so easily settled down wherever she was and went, she had just now settled down here…within… She now gazed out upon the water at everything and nothing at the same moment, and yet no words no thoughts expressed, no looks or gazing upon him, and they sailed along in time, for he did not know how long, and then she said, “It’s so beautiful and peaceful here. Do you come here often to sail?” And he said, “Yes, it is something I love to do.” And after a time, she said, “Thank you for asking me to come with you.” And the words to him were…lovely, and good…
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