This weekend Margie and I took a day away, to be together,
to talk, and be refreshed. We determined not to hurry but to enjoy the
leisureliness of the time, to let things unfold quietly. Our topics of
conversation were only partially determined ahead of time—including some
speaking and writing we are working on—but that consumed only a portion of the
day. The rest of the time we talked about whatever came up, and enjoyed times
of silence together.
We drove to Minneapolis, and so began talking on the hour’s
drive from Toad Hall to our first destination: Black Sheep Coffee. We ordered
lattes (Margie’s was soy) and as always, found the atmosphere lovely and
refreshing. Then we drove to The Museum of Russian Art to see two shows: “Concerning
the Spiritual in Russian Art” and “Jewish Life in the Russian Empire:
Photographs from the Museum of Ethnography, St. Petersburg, Russia.” Lovely,
poignant, moving. Before having dinner at the Himalayan Restaurant (very good),
we wandered over to Lake Harriet, found a bench near the water and sat in the
sun.
The bench near Lake Harriet was situated between walking and
biking paths, so bikes swept by just behind us and people walked or jogged just
in front of where we sat. All ages were represented, some strolling leisurely,
some walking dogs or pushing baby strollers, others in pairs or little groups.
After sitting there for a while we realized we were hearing snatches of
conversations, so I started jotting down what we could make out.
(boy) …I didn’t know
if you needed a drink…
(woman) …I just don’t
feel like going to work tomorrow…
(woman) …they bought a
new coffee table… (woman) …and they
redid the tile, and they redid the bathroom, and the hall, and it looks
wonderful…
(man) …Triska! Triska!
No! No!...
(woman) …I said I was
definitely concerned about the conversation…
(man) …You can go
boating out there on this lake? (man) Sail
boating.
(woman) …so far my
white sheers go well enough…
(woman) …my friend and
I were starry-eyed…
(woman) …my bike is
really slow. I’ve got it in the highest gear though…
(man) …my flag holder
in front has created…
(woman) …I’m going to
start digging…
(man) …I didn’t really
feel good but I’m doing it anyway…
(man) …is that an
answer? (woman) What?...
(boy) …give me my bike
back, c’mon, give me my bike back…
(man) …I didn’t know
if that was the trade-in value…
(woman) …my shoulders
are sore, but I don’t know…
(woman) …black and
red, black, red dot, red dot…
(boy) …I need to go to
the bathroom (woman) Well right now
we are kind of moseying…
(man) … (laughs) I
should probably creep down (laughs)…
(boy) …faster, Dad…
(man) …and why is
that? (woman) It’s kind of cool. No…
(man) …no, we really
do (woman) I thought your mother took
care of it (man) Yeah, I did too…
(man) …another alternative
is to say to the group…
(girl) …zippity
zippity do…
(man) …I know it is so
annoying (woman) Yeah, Heather
watches people…
(woman) …is she
celebrating Mother’s Day? (man) Yeah,
my sister knows this seedy bar…
(woman) …my cousin
won’t make a dessert…
(young woman on cell phone) …so it is, like, possible, and she said, oh gosh yes, and I was like,
because I told her so, and she was like, literally overwhelmed…
And that’s the news from here.
This entry was posted
at Monday, May 06, 2013
and is filed under
Art,
Conversation,
Margie Haack,
Quotes,
Rest
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