Social Drinker with a Fishing Problem
That was a shirt we saw on a woman earlier this afternoon in wal-mart and got a good, off-guard laugh from it- not that i'm big into fishing, well i take that back i love to deep sea fish but those days are gone because of a myriad of regrettable family factors out of my control. It was still, somehow, poigantly appropriate.
Anyways, sitting here close to disgustingly full with a slight buzz from margaritas, i felt the need to type something while i let this food digest make an obligatory Easter post (as if thats some kinda rule :). We're not particularly religious people but we do celebrate Easter with a big meal mostly because that (along with hunting eggs) are what our childhood memories of this holiday are made of and with the loss of matriarchs, far flung moves, and shifting priorities of our not-so-tight-knit families we've started our own Easter tradition. This generally involves the two of us cooking enough food for twenty and then feeding hungry neighbors and friends or living off of it for a week and a half :D Its a traditional southern Easter diner that reminds us of good days that seem like lifetimes gone by and its nice to have our own "holiday" not dictated by everyone elses schedule. Oh, and did i mention damn its good.
Speaking of holidays, we were at Callaway Gardens saturday enjoying our spring weather which is sure to be brief in the wake of the repressive georgia heat that will inevitably settle upon us soon. Walking through one of the green houses of the horticulture center, ahead of us i heard a young boy who couldn't have been older than six point and excitedly say to the two others (a little girl and another boy about 7 or 8) with him "Look its Santa Claus!" I follow his finger and on the walkway over the goldfish pond, ten feet or so away, stood a couple probably in their sixties, the man of whom was stocky with a belly and sported a large white beard and hair that stopped right above his shoulders. Even to my adult eyes he could have been a very convincing version of santa. Well as we kept moving down the path, the trio were gathered around their mom sitting on a bench, pointing and chattering amongst themselves about "santa." The one who had noticed him first finally began to edge his way toward the man. He was obviously the brave one and we smiled knowing what his intentions were. His siblings looked on wide eyed. It took a minute but as we reached them he had mustered the courage, quietly asking "Excuse me mister" The old man turned and looked. "Are you Santa Claus?" We were happy to see that not only did the couple indulge him but the man, who undoubtedly gets this reaction from children regularly, had "Santa Cards", one of which he handed the little boy. The childs face lit up with belief and since the ice had been broken the other kids approached and began talking to "Santa" as well. I thought it was great that this guy was willing to play along where some people would have very easily been annoyed. I have no idea what all was asked or told but he had the kids enthralled. I can bet that it will take quite a bit longer before those three don't believe in santa, even in an age were i often think kids know too much too fast.
It reminded me of a guy my parents and i knew named Marty who lived at the campground that we frequented in Flordia. He was retired, on oxygen, and lived there because it was convenient, he liked the ocean, and at one time the docs said he only had two months to live (of which he went on for another three and a half years). He also would have made a striking Santa and indulged traveling families kids on a regular basis. Often found sitting in front of the rec center or store during the summer enjoying the ocean breeze, when kids would drag their parents up to "see Santa" he'd answer all their questions- sometimes for an hour and even let them sit on his knee and take wish lists early. My favorite part of the spill was when asked why he wasn't in the North Pole he'd tell them he comes to Florida for the summer because its warm- it was his vacation time. It was always great to watch and it was all spun so convincingly. He was a good man....
I'll end this by saying that with it being Easter, which phaenix_ash remined me in her post was at its core about life and death, regardless of whether you celebrate the holiday as the ressurection, secularly, as we do, or not at all, to love as much as possible and "enjoy life, its later than you think."