Snapshots

Taken on a walk to Laurelhurst Park today while the sun was shining in the few hours before the clouds increased their cloudiness.

- 01 -
An older-than-me man walking up the sidewalk toward me, holding a carpet cleaning machine, walked up to me and asked if I wanted to buy a house. I told him "Sure, I'd love to!" and that was it, nothing else was said, we both kept on walking past each other in silent disbelief. What a strange thing to say. What a strange thing to hear.

Stranger passing stranger.

- 02 -
Today at the park, the dark-green shadows of the Douglas Firs pushed all the people out into the sun. I even saw an artist among them, a genuine painter, standing in front of an easel and everything, including the three old ladies beside him, arms outstretched slowly, then down, and bend the knee up slowly doing old-lady Tai Chi. They point in unison at all the people playing in the sun on the bright-green grass—there is a painter painting over there, and there is a writer writing over here.

- 03 -
I'm walking behind a mom on a cell phone in one hand who is pushing a child's scooter with the other, making a rickety-racket and a blaa blaa blaa. Her large bag of a purse is stuffed full of her mom-things and hangs from her arm on the phone like the child helmet hangs from the rattling handlebars. She's covered all over in mom-and-child things!

Look! There's another! And another! I'm surrounded by the mom-zombies picking their children up from school! Filled with fresh knowledge, they take their children home and squeeze their brains out for dinner. What did you learn today my child? Mmmmmm delicious!

When the final school bell rings,
all the children scream,
It's dinner time!
It's dinner time!
It's dinner time for me!

And when they meet their moms,
then they'll all sing along,
It's dinner time!
It's dinner time!
It's dinner time for me!