US trip, part XIII
I was glad I’d seen my parents on this trip. It was interesting, and I learned quite a bit about things, questions I’d stored up in my head to ask them when I had the chance….things like why we moved around so much, what various years before my birth were like, etc.
My parents drove me back to Norman, back to my sister’s house, in the late morning. We arrived. I was dropped off. My parents didn’t go inside. They drove away, and I have no idea when I’ll see them again.
My sister Leslie was taking me to a local shin-dig that evening, to be attended by her friends and their friends and whomever else showed up; we went to a store for snacks and stuff, and once again I was awed by the sheer, unadulterated embarrassment of riches that is the typical American grocery. Aisles and aisles containing 87 versions of everything you can think of. I don’t recall them being that way when I was a kid; I don’t even recall them being that way the last time I was in the states, just over a decade ago.
Lunch was burgers at Sonic with vanilla Dr. Pepper, though I couldn’t really taste the vanilla; it’s one kind of sugar mixed with another kind of sugar, and I just couldn’t taste the difference. Interestingly enough, the servers at Sonic don’t take tips, though it seems to me that they work harder than most waitstaff. We stopped by a liquor store in search of CC rye whiskey, and were directed to the whiskey aisle, and then the rye aisle, where we found more or less what we were looking for. Leslie was interested in trying my preferred drink comprised of rye and ginger ale.
Our gracious host Kim had just gotten off work when we arrived and still sported her “work hair”, which I thought was actually very cool, but she appeared later with regular hair which was also cool, and she’s such a cool person it didn’t make much of a difference. There were all kinds of food as well as a chocolate cake; the frosting bowl was in the sink, and I helped myself to several fingers of the delicious stuff, feeling like a particularly tall eight-year-old. People congregated on the back porch, beyond which stretched a comfortable, distinctly un-manicured lawn. Trains hooted in the distance as evening fell. I was asked many things by many people, and met a woman from Southern China who had brought egg rolls and many other dishes. One man emerged from the house wearing a small Nikon on a Black Rapid strap, but he took it off and put it on the table instead of taking any photos. I had the rabbit with me and took a few shots, but this vacation hadn’t really called for photography; I was seldom alone long enough in one place to get a feel for it, much less explore and take the shots I usually take. That’s ok, though; I’ve long felt that photos are always there if we need them.
One woman was asking a lot of financial questions about the Water Curtain Cave, which was a bit strange. Later I learned that she was a bit of a prude and would have loved to screwed with her a bit, but I didn’t know to do so at the time. Another couple who was known for their stories of adventure and daring-do in Taiwan failed to show, which was disappointing; I’d been looking forward to chatting with them.
The evening ended reluctantly; I was tired and had to get up early for my return to the other side of the planet, a day-long journey, but before I left Kim and her husband led me on a great round of 20-or-30 questions. My favorite books, movies, sci-fi series, superheroes, etc. It was great fun.
We arrived. I was dropped off. My parents didn’t go inside. They drove away, and I have no idea when I’ll see them again.
This left me feeling somehow desolate, TC. I hope that one day you can figure out a way to connect with them.
Comment by sandy — October 13, 2011 @ 3:54 pm