'Seven Ways to Tie a Pashmina' by Susan Carey

The Infinity Knot. Take both ends, tie them together and loop the scarf around and around. Our love will last forever; like that night at the Purple Butterfly when we had oysters and Champagne and the diamond glistened at the bottom of the glass.

French Knot. Fold scarf in half and pull both ends through the resulting loop. We drank Château Margaux while watching the artists painting portraits in Montmartre. Hip against hip we walked through the dusk and watched the moon rise over the Seine. You hummed, ‘Paris in the Springtime,’ and wrapped the pashmina around me as if I were a piece of fine bone china.

The Cowboy Scarf. Against your throat, crossed at the back then conceal the knot under the bulk of the scarf at the front. In Argentina we galloped alongside each other racing shoulder to shoulder. I whooped for joy when I steered my horse over the three-foot fence and helter-skeltered down the mountainside. At first I thought you were kidding when you took the slow way down and shouted at me for being gung ho.

Like a Bolero. Over your shoulders, under your arms and secure the ends at the back with a rubber band. It was chilly at the lakeside fund-raiser when you bid 50,000 dollars on the tiny silver poodle by Jeff Koons. You said you bought it for me, although by then I had enough trinkets to fill a Vermont barn. I did put make-up on my puffy face and go though because otherwise what would his Mom and Pop think. It was their fortune after all.

Over Under Style. Start with the European loop, but pull one end through instead of both. Then with the newly formed extra loop pull the other end through. The scarf should lie flat against your throat. You never liked other men looking at my suprasternal notch.

The Half-Bow. wind your pashmina around your neck and make one end a little longer, pull the other end halfway through to form a lopsided bow. An off-kilter look which suited the weeks when I tried to come off the Zoloft which I had taken because the doc said, “Every wife around here takes them, why should you be any different, hon?”

Cascading Effect. Grab a corner and let the edges ripple down in a waterfall. I stand on the edge of the Grand Canyon and release the scarf into the air. My thighs are sticky from the cheap leatherette of the SUV which I bought on eBay, and I stand in a superwoman pose to cool down while my old accessory rides on thermals of rising air. Outstretched wings soar high but then the wind changes and it falls like a shot bird. I scuff up some dirt with my old kick-ass boots, start the engine and head west.