Today was a lovely, quiet day. After work, during which I mostly quietly cuddled children, I went and ran some errands by myself, drove around in the snow flurries, and didn't even sing much in the car (normally I'm BELTING it out!). I felt especially aware of the people around me today, and some of the different personalities/situations that I saw made me feel such feels so I'm writing it down for memory's sake. Sometimes it's just nice to write about things you see.
The lady knitting in the car in front of me. Alllllll the way to Patton from McDowell I was behind a little tan volvo. I saw a poof of fluffy greying hair peeking over the top of the passenger seat. Every few minutes, a chunky scarf appeared between two small hands, turning this way and that. Pretty sure she was a beginning knitter. The man in the drivers' seat nodded in approval, and the knitting disappeared below the fluff of hair again.
The couple counting contractions in the mall. On my way through the mall parking lot, I passed a super pregnant lady and her husband(?). She was doubled over, leaning on his arm, and he was timing on his phone. He looked at me as I passed by, with a look that was like "DO YOU SEE THIS?! THIS IS HAPPENING!" and after a few more seconds, the lady stood up straight and said, "DAMN! That was a bad one!" and she rubbed her belly and they kept on walking.
The girl at the bus stop. There was a girl at the bus stop by Asheville Christian who really struck me with her presence. She was dressed in a grey hoodie and jeans, and her backpack was black and plain and so were her sneakers. She had the same style I had in early high school. (I didn't want to look like I was "trying" but who knows her reasons.) A doofus of a guy was standing next to her, talking and waving his hands around. She looked bored to tears, staring into traffic, not responding to whoever he was and whatever he had to say. We made eye contact and she stayed truly expressionless.
The little boys eating snow in the bank parking lot. Snow never gets old for kids. While their mom yanked her coat up to her ears and marched towards the bank her two sons dawdled on the way to the door, screaming, "IT'S STICKING!" and jumping around wildly. The youngest one opened his mouth and squinted up at the sky. "ISSS SNOBING!" He yelped, without closing his mouth. His mom yelled at him and he quickened his pace, mouth still open, face still turned upwards, busting into a penguin-like run to the door of the bank.
The man on the bridge. I drove over a high (very high) bridge. A bundle of clothes that I assumed housed a man sat gruffly on the railing, back towards me. I never even saw his face. But he looked so totally not bothered by the snow, or by the fact that he was sitting on the edge of a 30 foot drop. (Actually no idea how many feet it was. I have terrible depth perception!) How amazing to not care about these things. It made me a little angry. For two reasons: 1. I care about such stupid things, and I make sure everyone knows it, and 2. He probably cares about things that matter (like, ya know, surviving) and does anyone know? Maybe he never even voices his thoughts.
So those were the people I saw today. I see a lot of people. But sometimes I'm busy thinking about myself I don't even consider those people in the context of their own rich and random lives. Today my mind was quiet, quiet enough so that when I looked at people, instead of my own thoughts, I heard a note or two out of their stories-- at least I like to think I did.
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