Keep Talking: #82 Hemlock Society (#1)

Keep Talking: #82 Hemlock Society (#1): It is obvious she was becoming one of those New Yorkers. The ones that don’t care if their socks don’t match, wearing an old skirt, ragged ...

#82 Hemlock Society (#1)

It is obvious she is becoming one of those New Yorkers. The ones that don’t care if their socks match, wearing an old skirt, ragged polo shirt without a bra, cracked sunglasses and a purple UV protected hat with sun tan lotion stains all over it.  There is no longer interest or objective style sense related to fashion or vanity. All she cares about is getting her old bones out of bed and onto the reservoir path, the one Jaqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir Path. In 1994 they dedicated it in her name. 1994. 

For all she cared she could’ve been wearing her pajamas.

 She was on her way to Frank E. Campbell Funeral Home on Madison Avenue for her father’s wake in 1990 when she saw Jackie O for the first time in the neighborhood. She was one giant head with a great jaw. A simple scarf and eyes completely hidden behind her sunglasses.

So when she walks around the reservoir, with her left ear to the water, she appreciates what Jackie has done to improve the place and hopes that if Jackie is interested in the Reservoir in her afterlife, she would not be offended by her clothes and judge her while peering down on the general vicinity of the upper east side.

There were some photos from the 70’s of Paul Simon and Arthur Garfunkle posing next to the chain link fence which surrounded the reservoir back then. She tried to visualize the Park in the 70’s. Whose idea was it to do that photo shoot there? A really good idea.

This morning some tourists asked her to take their photo. They picked a spot where the light wasn’t good, but they were so pleased when she agreed to do it. When she handed the camera back she noticed the woman’s fingernails were each painted a different color. She pointed to them and gave her a thumbs up, because she knew they spoke no English.  They really looked good. There was no rhyme or reason to her choice of colors. No pattern at all, but they were well painted and a daring choice which also showed a sign of fun and frivolity which she usually saw on younger women who did a much sloppier job painting their nails.

As she continues walking, people much younger than she are jogging past her. It is incredible how many inspirational athletic slogans there are on t-shirts: aiming to be the best, or congratulating the runner for a half marathon in 2009 for not giving up. What exactly is the significance of these slogans in the current context of their lives? Do they wear these shirts to inspire others or to brag about their athletic accomplishments?  Because for her they seem slightly ridiculous.

And this is when she realizes that she is aging. The idea of striving for a t-shirt  with a slogan to congratulate someone for running a race is funny. Especially because of who is wearing the shirt. But that’s neither here, nor there and they are gone fairly fast. She used to run, until the arthritis happened and there is no cartilage to protect her bones anymore.

So now she walks.

She enjoys hearing the fine gravel path kicked up and shuffled around like sand with imprints of every kind of sneaker sole design.

She enjoys tourists posing for their loved ones.

She enjoys overhearing a group of women in their 70’s strolling together and cracking jokes about where they will go for lunch and what they think the waitress will say about their visor-hats.

Her left ear is to the quiet water, ducks floating below and an apple tree full of fruit sagging above.

Keep Talking: #81 The Thing About It Is

Keep Talking: #81 The Thing About It Is: Essie is about 4 standing on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean. The brink, the edge and her toes are sinking into the sand and the water splas...

#81 The Thing About It Is

Essie is about 4 standing at the edge of the Atlantic Ocean. The brink, the edge and her toes are sinking into the sand and the water splashes over her feet and she has a terrible feeling that she is sinking deeper but really her feet are making more of an impression. She is wearing what can only be described as a salmony pink and white horizontal pin-stripe tank suit which feels like it is a wool blend because it is scratchy. It must have been a hand-me-down from a friend who purchased the odd blend at Macy’s (and quickly discovered its intrinsic impracticality, therefore discarded it immediately) or it was pulled out of a drawer from the Paramus NJ Alexander’s- the one with the massive tile sky streaked with lots of cobalt blue and red screeching across the white façade.

The wave, which was probably no taller than mid-calf, took her down and for the first time ever she discovered that wet sand on wet legs cannot be easily brushed off. It sticks and feels like unwanted wool stockings. She falls on the sand and cries embarrassed, helpless and very uncomfortably lifts herself up and wipes the mess off her legs. Sea foam turns into quicksand sinking her little feet deeper and sending her deeper into hysterics. 

Silly tears!

The tears turn to laughter and she is suddenly taller and all grown up. The beach is gone, replaced by a steering wheel and she is driving upstate past farms and eighteen-wheelers. The music is on the radio and it is chattering away. Gradually, her car lifts up and floats toward the clouds. It is a beautiful day and she has a great view from the air. She isn’t sure where she is headed next, but there isn’t anything she can do about it but wait and see.

Keep Talking: #1 Drunk, Drum and Noisy Bird

Keep Talking: #1 Drunk, Drum and Noisy Bird: The bird perched in the tree.  Great Blue Heron with a s-shaped neck, sleek feathers, arched beak, long and slender legs. Gracef...

Keep Talking: #2 Of A Scruple Popping Up and Getting Squashed Do...

Keep Talking: #2 Of A Scruple Popping Up and Getting Squashed Do...: Sitting on the subway and a homeless person walks on. Actually, two homeless people- no, three, four, five, six…….a whole subway...

Keep Talking: #3 But She Came Back

Keep Talking: #3 But She Came Back: The good day when the sun is out and there aren’t any constraints pulling one down into a dark place. The day when all the assig...