today i met somebody who seems relatively free of issues and baggage. i realize this was probably an illusion, but it was refreshing nonetheless. he seemed like a cheerful, non-messed up person. like i said, my knowledge of people tells me this probably isn’t the story at all, but it’s nice to believe it, if even for an hour or two.
i was at a wedding party. the couple got married in january, and they had a lovely reception at the washington park pavillion. they love to scuba dive, and they played a video they’d shot of some of their trips. it looked amazing, but it’s not something i have a desire to try. i prefer an interest where i always know i won’t run out of air. and i won’t get eaten by a shark. the video was cool, though.
the bride passed around a little blank book, in which we were supposed to write something loving and profound. i usually panic when confronted with something like this. for one thing, my penmanship is so bad that sometimes i can’t even read it myself. i was afraid it’d look like a third grader had scrawled something.
the larger problem is that i can’t ever think of anything to say. also, the cynical part of me wants to write “i hope it lasts longer than most marriages.” or “good luck – you’ll need it.” but this couple does look like they’ll make it. but i guess most people look like that at the beginning, don’t they? but really, this couple does seem like they do belong together.
for a while, anyway.
no, really, i’m sure they’ll grow old together, happily ever after, etc. etc etc.
i flipped through the book, thinking maybe i’d copy what somebody else wrote. who’d know they were the first one to write it? i came to one that read “life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.”
the people i was sitting with oohed and aahed over the profundity and loveliness of this sentiment, and i gnashed my teeth, knowing i’d never think of anything that good. i scribbled something about how i was sure that they have all kinds of fun-filled and joyous times ahead of them, lots of adventures, stuff like that, blah blah blah. it was ok, and the penmanship was marginal. at least i didn’t have to scratch any of it out.
later, i came home and read the paper. the funnies, to be exact, the only part of the paper i don’t miss, even though i’m usually disappointed in the overall humor of the thing. the possibility, the hope of a little glimmer of funny-ness, that’s all i wish for.
i read the comic strip “pickles,” even though it usually isn’t funny. it’s about an old couple. here is what it said today: The old woman says to the old man, “Someone said, “life is not measured by the number of breaths we take…but by the moments that take our breath away.’”
!
YES, THAT IS RIGHT. THE LOVELY WEDDING SENTIMENT WAS STOLEN FROM THE COMIC PAGE OF TODAY’S PAPER.
now, that was funny. i mean, maybe the wedding-sentiment writer just happened to write this exact same thing, maybe they didn’t read “pickles” today. but what are the odds of that?
the comic strip went on – after the old woman said that, the old man says, “I had one of those moments this morning.” the old woman says “you did?” and the old man says “Yes, and i’ve asked you before not to flush when i’m in the shower.”
this part was not included in the wedding greeting. maybe they should have included it, to add a little real-life co-habitation reality to the gushy sentiment.
the rest of the day was spent at mom and dad’s, working around the yard. well, others worked around the yard. here is amy, working hard:
jim decided to mow the entire yard with the push mower, instead of dad’s fancy riding mower. “it’s good exercise,” he said.
jim got lots of blisters on his hands, and says next time he’s going to have dad teach him how to ride the riding mower.
mom was going to put up her flamingos. she got them out, but they’re still in a pile in the yard. hopefully she will get them up soon, because the boaters need them as a point of reference. “meet me at the flamingos,” they say to each other. and “when is your mom going to put up her flamingos?” one of them asked me the other day. Soon, soon.
Dad did put up the lighted flamingos. one is facing the house, and two face the water.
amy and dad had a conference about she and jim building a house next door. my parents technically have two lots (a LOT of lawn to mow), and sometimes amy talks about building a house on it. you can see by the official robe she’s wearing that she’s getting pretty serious about the whole thing.
my job was to clean out the pontoon boat. i remember that last year i swept, i vacuumed, i scrubbed the boat down, it was sparkling clean. and about two days after we put it in the water, it was just as filthy as it was before i’d done anything.
this is what it looked like this afternoon:
this picture actually makes it look nicer than it really is. it’s pretty old, and there was a hole in it, but they got it fixed. except the hole fixer people didn’t see another, smaller hole in the pontoon, so hopefully we won’t sink. i did manage to sweep it out eventually, but i’m sure leaves are falling on it right this very minute, so it’ll look like i didn’t do anything.
true, i didn’t do much, but i did make the best pizza i’ve EVER baked, and that made everybody happy. plus chocolate cookies, ditto for the deliciousness. dad gets sad if there aren’t homemade chocolate chip cookies around.
whew, a busy day.
that is all for now. i hope your saturday was good.
ok then,
grace on saturday