Apr. 26, 2005 - 19:01 MDT

THE USUAL

There seems to be a comfortable pattern, this growing old with a woman you met while you were still wet behind the ears. We have had our ins and outs, bickered and whickered and things like that . It has never been a super peaceful life for us. One of the things was our fault of course, having more kids that we could do the right thing by and going over the line one way or another - shorting them one time to pay bills and splurging to see they had the care they needed. It was at times, indeed, a trail of tears for the both of us, but we stayed the course and are proud of it. Who knows what tomorrow will bring ? I don't and think that no one else has the foggiest of the actuality of tomorrow.

Today Heather and I crawled out of bed at our usual times, made our pit stops and went back for a short time to try to ease the creaks of sleep. While I was doing the coffee brewtine Heather asked me if we could go to Costco today. Which in her delightful I way was informing me that we were going to Costco today. I knew that there were several things we needed to get, none of which she needed my help to find.

I guess it would have been possible to persue the subject until she would say, "I just want your company." But I knew that all along and didn't want to make waves. I just asked her when we were going to go and was given a start time at the gate.

As the garage door was closing and Heather was backing out she said she wanted to stop by Target also. Never changes does a woman, I think. Shopaholic dolls all. So we went by the post office, Target way down there and looked for something we couldn't find and then back up to Costco.

When we went in we had a Polish Dog and a drink. As we were toward the end of our bite she said, "I want to look around a bit, will you be okay here at the snack bar ?" Guess the fancy name for that question is "rhetorical." I don't do mileage in the store very well, even leaning on a buggy it gets grim and sour and makes me "not" good company. So, when she left to shop I went and bought a frozen Latte Mocha went back to table and set to work on my crossword puzzle book. People watching on the side as it were. It is immensely interesting to me. The modes of dress that people use, the face they show the world, in each person's case the face is of their own making I guess but sometimes I think perhaps it is obvious what their general attitude is toward the world this moment.

The books that are just beginning to open are the young children, all eyes, looking everywhere, looks of wonder at times. I don't hear very well, but some littles voices are in a frequency that I can hear. "Momma, what's that funny thing he is hooked to ?" Momma says, "That is his oxygen dear." Little girl says, "Why does he have to have it ?" And Momma says, "Because he can't get enough oxygen from the air like we do." A thoughtful look and an, "Oh . . . . . is he sick ?" Momma deftly fields that one, "No, not now, but once he was and will always have to use oxygen." They left shortly thereafter. Soon a Mom and two littles sat down. Apparently neither kid had ever seen an old man, particularly with a beard and mustache, I was their museum piece for the time they were there, under constant investigational observation. If there were comments I couldn't hear them.

Then a total treat, a Mom with a cute little child, wide eyed, curious, shy. I caught her eye and winked, then quick winked the other eye. Did that a couple of times, her eyes grew rounder. Finally she tried to wink back, then with great effort she attempted to do the same as I, with no luck. But she did get her face in some interesting contortions during her efforts. Oh, but she returned my smiles with sweet as candy smiles. Fortunately her Mom saw what was going on and quietly observed the interplay between us. The little girl got down from the bench at the table and walked around, play acting a bit and trying to catch my attention and I played back and would suddenly notice her -- wink a bunch and grin and she would giggle and try to wink back. We had an interesting time for awhile.

There was an old couple, about our age, came up, she sat down and he went to the counter and got their orders, came back and let her arrange things the way she wanted them. They sat there, ate, talked and it was obvious they were at peace and enjoying life just being with each other.

The clothes some people wore made me wonder where their home country was. It is always a marvel to me the way some folks move with grace and dignity, meeting the world face on with a smile, brightens my day it does and makes me envious that I don't have that natural grace of movement. But not sad, but just seeing things like that makes me glad. It is the good part of the world showing through the murk of the ordinary fug some people move in.

Some day I will get two of those hand counters, the kind you click. One I will click the times I smile and the other I will click counting the times my smile is returned. I have the feeling the count will be close. Well, you know, not every body wants to smile or perhaps forgot how.

We got home, I unloaded the proceeds of the days shopping, put the refrigerated stuff in the fridge and relaxed.

One of our friends called and in greeting me asked, "How was your day, what did you all do ?" What could I say ? Go into detail or say what I said, THE USUAL . . . . . . . . . .

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