the hopes that you had carried
This morning I went for a longer bike ride than I've made time for in a while: along the river, smooth as glass, reflecting trees and bright blue sky; across it and along the railroad tracks; up through the historic district; past a group of dignified white-haired ladies pacing their way from the retirement home to a nearby church. I suppose I could have gone out along one of the county highways - traffic's not likely to be a problem on a Sunday morning - but I felt like staying in town.
I'd brought along my backpack because I needed to stop at the market for milk and eggs. I also picked up a lemon-poppyseed muffin, which turned out to be still warm from the oven.
In the produce section, a pair of kids were playing an elaborate game of getting from one end of the aisle to the other by hopping only on the blue tiles. The little girl had that slippery super-fine hair that's always coming out of its barrettes. Their mother looked tired.
Standing in line at the checkout behind an early-40s woman buying acorn squash and rock salt, I overheard her conversation with the manager: "How's she doing?" "Well, she's just had the one round yet," he said; "if she loses her hair, it'll be this week." "She should talk to Suzy; she's got a lot of good wigs." "She offered them to us just last week, and three or four hats too." "She did get the cutest hats."
The teenager at the register glanced at my hair and my biking gloves and didn't say anything except to mumble the total at me.
The woman behind me bought two bags of apples and five bunches of bananas.
Biking home on the main street, I could smell the doughnuts at the bakery three blocks away. From the bakery, I could smell the diner another two blocks on.
A few blocks from home, I turned onto the street where they were having a dedication ceremony yesterday for the new memorial fountain. It's pretty at night - there are a couple of small spotlights around it. Seen up close during the day, it's... well, it's a little chintzy, a little cheap; you can see the black plastic lining between the two layers of stone, or more likely "stone," that make up the pool at the bottom. Which makes the whole thing even more touching, actually. The plaque at the bottom says "In memoriam / [name] / 2004".
The water's cold and clear. There were pennies in the fountain.
I'd brought along my backpack because I needed to stop at the market for milk and eggs. I also picked up a lemon-poppyseed muffin, which turned out to be still warm from the oven.
In the produce section, a pair of kids were playing an elaborate game of getting from one end of the aisle to the other by hopping only on the blue tiles. The little girl had that slippery super-fine hair that's always coming out of its barrettes. Their mother looked tired.
Standing in line at the checkout behind an early-40s woman buying acorn squash and rock salt, I overheard her conversation with the manager: "How's she doing?" "Well, she's just had the one round yet," he said; "if she loses her hair, it'll be this week." "She should talk to Suzy; she's got a lot of good wigs." "She offered them to us just last week, and three or four hats too." "She did get the cutest hats."
The teenager at the register glanced at my hair and my biking gloves and didn't say anything except to mumble the total at me.
The woman behind me bought two bags of apples and five bunches of bananas.
Biking home on the main street, I could smell the doughnuts at the bakery three blocks away. From the bakery, I could smell the diner another two blocks on.
A few blocks from home, I turned onto the street where they were having a dedication ceremony yesterday for the new memorial fountain. It's pretty at night - there are a couple of small spotlights around it. Seen up close during the day, it's... well, it's a little chintzy, a little cheap; you can see the black plastic lining between the two layers of stone, or more likely "stone," that make up the pool at the bottom. Which makes the whole thing even more touching, actually. The plaque at the bottom says "In memoriam / [name] / 2004".
The water's cold and clear. There were pennies in the fountain.