Resting Places
12. 22. 06
We end the evening with a dip in the hot tub and Noah braves the supposedly heated pool. A couple of car rigs are pulled into the parking lot as this is also a truckers’ layover. Some teen girls giggle their bikini’d way into the supposed sauna which offers a mere elevated temperature and the whole feel is time-warp in the dusky light. Hanah poses pool side, fluorescent light “bathing” and I enjoy the feeble Jacuzzi jets against my lower back. The whole pool/patio area has been enclosed from the outdoors so a mustiness prevails everywhere. The next morning I have to laugh as I see 2 automatic cereal dispensers offer up Froot Loops and Raisin Bran alongside the gloopy sugary donuts. I put on my anthropologist cap and settle in for the duration.
An early morning run/trot takes me alongside the freeway on a back road which offers some quiet from this intersection of all things Franchise. It’s not much different from the market places/mercados of the world except everything is gargantuan in size, buildings outsized with matching vehicles. Inside Walmart I am hit by the white lights and glare of plastic, polyester and polyurethane products and search desperately for a simple greeting card. Michael noted that there are now carts for people to sit in while shopping if walking the aisles is too strenuous. You can go from your car to a motorized cart and never expend enough energy to break a sweat. This is why my job in barriatric surgery is secure.
The drive up to Fayetteville takes us through low lying pine woods and winter landscapes, past dormant fields and farm land. We leave the strip malls behind and travel the road with our fellow truckers and holiday seekers.
Three hours later we arrive at M's sisters housing development called Clabber Creek. Needing to stretch our legs we walk down the road to a neighboring cemetary and tell stories about the dead denizens. I'm drawn to the newly dug gravees, those that hold the children or the young men and women, wondering what happened. The sun sets warmly on the cold horizon and Hanah comes up with a description: " As we walk toward the cemetary the setting sun casts a beautiful glow over the Christmas trees." Some horses marvel at this quartet of bipeds who actually use their limbs to transport themselves along the highway and we wave to them. A lovely white farm house, complete with red barn, fills the bucolic setting with its holiday lights and Noah enjoys this winter wonderland.
I scrunch my cap down further as we set out to a Razorbacks Basketball game tonight. Of all the sports that Michael likes it's the one I enjoy the most as I can actually understand it. I love the squeak of rubber as the players' feet dance about and their handsa are marvelous in their gestures and their large size. They beckon each other, point to placements, invite moves, toss, catch and slam dunk. Muscled shoulders and calves remind me of our wondrous bodies when we use them so well. Times out and half time feature the cheer leaders hoisted in the air in their little elve outfits and mascots bop around in outsize costumes, gesturing the crowd into supporting the home team. A teen next to me spent the whole game crocheting 3 scarves or reading the bible, never once looking at the game. She was there with her avid fan family but found her own way to be with herself as well.
Seeking an after game drink we venture to the main strip of this college town and enjoy some home brews. I'd forgotten what energy buzzes around these 20=somethings. It's fun to be reminded of youth's ventures.
We end the evening with a dip in the hot tub and Noah braves the supposedly heated pool. A couple of car rigs are pulled into the parking lot as this is also a truckers’ layover. Some teen girls giggle their bikini’d way into the supposed sauna which offers a mere elevated temperature and the whole feel is time-warp in the dusky light. Hanah poses pool side, fluorescent light “bathing” and I enjoy the feeble Jacuzzi jets against my lower back. The whole pool/patio area has been enclosed from the outdoors so a mustiness prevails everywhere. The next morning I have to laugh as I see 2 automatic cereal dispensers offer up Froot Loops and Raisin Bran alongside the gloopy sugary donuts. I put on my anthropologist cap and settle in for the duration.
An early morning run/trot takes me alongside the freeway on a back road which offers some quiet from this intersection of all things Franchise. It’s not much different from the market places/mercados of the world except everything is gargantuan in size, buildings outsized with matching vehicles. Inside Walmart I am hit by the white lights and glare of plastic, polyester and polyurethane products and search desperately for a simple greeting card. Michael noted that there are now carts for people to sit in while shopping if walking the aisles is too strenuous. You can go from your car to a motorized cart and never expend enough energy to break a sweat. This is why my job in barriatric surgery is secure.
The drive up to Fayetteville takes us through low lying pine woods and winter landscapes, past dormant fields and farm land. We leave the strip malls behind and travel the road with our fellow truckers and holiday seekers.
Three hours later we arrive at M's sisters housing development called Clabber Creek. Needing to stretch our legs we walk down the road to a neighboring cemetary and tell stories about the dead denizens. I'm drawn to the newly dug gravees, those that hold the children or the young men and women, wondering what happened. The sun sets warmly on the cold horizon and Hanah comes up with a description: " As we walk toward the cemetary the setting sun casts a beautiful glow over the Christmas trees." Some horses marvel at this quartet of bipeds who actually use their limbs to transport themselves along the highway and we wave to them. A lovely white farm house, complete with red barn, fills the bucolic setting with its holiday lights and Noah enjoys this winter wonderland.
I scrunch my cap down further as we set out to a Razorbacks Basketball game tonight. Of all the sports that Michael likes it's the one I enjoy the most as I can actually understand it. I love the squeak of rubber as the players' feet dance about and their handsa are marvelous in their gestures and their large size. They beckon each other, point to placements, invite moves, toss, catch and slam dunk. Muscled shoulders and calves remind me of our wondrous bodies when we use them so well. Times out and half time feature the cheer leaders hoisted in the air in their little elve outfits and mascots bop around in outsize costumes, gesturing the crowd into supporting the home team. A teen next to me spent the whole game crocheting 3 scarves or reading the bible, never once looking at the game. She was there with her avid fan family but found her own way to be with herself as well.
Seeking an after game drink we venture to the main strip of this college town and enjoy some home brews. I'd forgotten what energy buzzes around these 20=somethings. It's fun to be reminded of youth's ventures.
posted by Barbery at 3:43 PM
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