I don't always watch Oprah. In fact, I don't recall watching for several years. Last night there wasn't much of anything on the TV at all, in the wee, wee hours, and Oprah was doing a book club episode, and the book in question was The Bluest Eye. The discussion around this book was what people are conditioned to accept as beauty and how we value and reward beauty in people, outer beauty anyway. Some of the topics were how feelings of self worth are connected with beauty or the lack thereof, and how to reinforce a feeling of worth in our children by paying more attention to how they feel than how they look, by letting the light beam from you when you see a child enter the room. That approval and acceptance does so much to help the child build self-esteem. Well, anyway I am reminded of that because today is a beautiful day. The sun is out and warm and the sky is clear and blue and the foliage is vibrantly green. It's all very lovely. And I can't go out in it. Even under heavy sunscreen, and although I wouldn't burn, the rays of the sun still sting me. Direct light of this intensity is painful. I won't be able to leave the house until after 6pm or so, with the weather like this. So, I wish overcast days, cool days, days that are comfortable for me, were considered beautiful. They certainly are marvelous to me.