‘Loneliness is Dangerous’, By Ed Vebell – 1955

It occurred to Pooh and Piglet………………

 

It occurred to Pooh and Piglet that they hadn’t heard from Eeyore for several days, so they put on their hats and coats and trotted across the Hundred Acre Wood to Eeyore’s stick house. Inside the house was Eeyore.

“Hello Eeyore,” said Pooh.

“Hello Pooh. Hello Piglet,” said Eeyore, in a Glum Sounding Voice.

“We just thought we’d check in on you,” said Piglet, “because we hadn’t heard from you, and so we wanted to know if you were okay.”

Eeyore was silent for a moment. “Am I okay?” he asked, eventually. “Well, I don’t know, to be honest. Are any of us really okay? That’s what I ask myself. All I can tell you, Pooh and Piglet, is that right now I feel really rather Sad, and Alone, and Not Much Fun To Be Around At All. Which is why I haven’t bothered you. Because you wouldn’t want to waste your time hanging out with someone who is Sad, and Alone, and Not Much Fun To Be Around At All, would you now.”

Pooh looked and Piglet, and Piglet looked at Pooh, and they both sat down, one on either side of Eeyore in his stick house.

Eeyore looked at them in surprise. “What are you doing?”

“We’re sitting here with you,” said Pooh, “because we are your friends. And true friends don’t care if someone is feeling Sad, or Alone, or Not Much Fun To Be Around At All. True friends are there for you anyway. And so here we are.”

“Oh,” said Eeyore. “Oh.” And the three of them sat there in silence, and while Pooh and Piglet said nothing at all; somehow, almost imperceptibly, Eeyore started to feel a very tiny little bit better.

Because Pooh and Piglet were There. No more; no less.

A. A. Milne

Monsters

I Hate Your Face.

Hidden inside

Garrett’s Gifs To The World

The Black Dog

Gabrielle Ray (Rotary 4820 D)

For those who have visited this blog over the past few months it will be quite obvious that I love old pictures and postcards that give us a brief glimpse into a past and forgotten age.

My interests vary from Maids, Nuns, religious dress and the more risqué images of the French Maid. Often when searching for a particular subject the boundaries cross and as well as true Maids we find Edwardian actresses dressed as Nuns or Maids. During one of my searches I came across Gabrielle Ray dressed as a Maid and was instantly captivated by her.

Collecting the individual cards isn’t enough; I like to know more about the individual, which is easier when that person is an actress, although often the information is scares.

Searching for information about Miss Ray I discovered that she was one of the most photographed women of the time; but sadly her success, if measured by being visibly working or in the public eye was short lived. She struggled with depression and alcohol abuse, and her health declined. In 1936, she suffered a complete mental breakdown and was institutionalized for nearly forty years; dying  in 1973 at Holloway Sanatorium at the age of 90.

My collection of Miss Ray, although small is growing and this is my favourite picture of her.

The photographer is able to manipulate the image through lighting, dress and expression. However there are times when, perhaps in an unguarded moment the subject is caught and the image produced conveys more than possibly intended. It may be that having read the final chapter of Miss Ray’s life, the heros, villians, plot and ultimate ending is known and so our own interpretation of a particular image becomes coloured. For me this image shows Miss Ray as thoughtful, reflective but more than that, there is a sadness shown in her eyes. Has the photoprapher caught a prophetic image of the future, do her eyes give us a hint of her sad future? Hopefully not. When I saw this card I knew that I had to have it regardless of the cost.

The post date is June 1908, Miss Ray would have been 21.