this morning was my cousin's confirmation. as a sweet coincidence, my aunt and uncle live here, in this mid-sized, uber-progressive town to which j and i have recently moved. so this morning we followed them to their church for the service. with the exception of a bus boycott re-enactment and rosa parks' wake, i don't think i attended church one time while living in alabama.
as soon as we settled into our row, j flipped open the program. "look!" he nudged me. there, in bold print on one of the first pages, was a notice that gluten-free wafers would be provided during the morning's communion. he gave me that look we've been giving each other with some frequency during the past few weeks, the one that involves raised eyebrows and a general expression of gleeful incredulity, the one that says, "we're not in alabama anymore".
the service began, and my cousin spoke a couple of times and was very poised (significantly more poised than i was at 14), and the sermon was lovely and they played a slide show of baby pictures for the two kids getting confirmed. and then the choir sang. and 3/4 of the choir was wearing birkenstocks. "look at their feet," i whispered to j. and again, we exchanged the look.
earlier tonight, j and i were eating dinner on the front porch (showing our southern feathers, we nod and say hello or hi ya'll to everyone who walks by). and as we finished the last of our tortellini, we heard the strumming of a banjo. soon, a guy wearing a straw hat and chewing on a long blade of grass walked down the sidewalk, playing his banjo. we made eye contact with the guy. we couldn't help it: we gave him the look. in return, he gave us a meaningful, almost imperceptible nod and kept walking.
5 comments:
Well, I drive an SUV, but I have no patience for church or pasta. Can we be even?
well, i am part italian -- but i hear you on the church thing. and i like you, which also helps. so, yes, consider us even. :-)
I have good reasons for my SUV. First, when I got it in 1994, I was pregnant, and my father bought it for me because it was big and safe. I was also a house painter, and I needed to haul a ladder and supplies. And I have two dogs, and a sister who is allergic to them, so I needed to keep the dogs separate from the back seats.
And then there's the fact that I don't drive to work.
This is my second of the same vehicle (the first was a lease; this is a 2000 buy). It has cost me, including oil changes, about $200/year to maintain. And in seven years, I have only put 47,000 miles on it.
I have wanted, many times, to trade my car. I would much rather have something eco-friendly. But it's a $35,000 vehicle new, and it's paid off.
Maybe if my book sells I can afford to be more conscientious!
Part Italian? Really? I wouldn't have guessed!
yup. we eat pasta at thanksgiving.
i suspend my SUV impatience for people who actually need all that typically wasted space for work (in return, i am not surprised you were once a house painter. and i mean that as a compliment.)
i don't expect we'll all rollerbade to work and grow our own organic vegetables and weave our own cloth (i used to hope so, but then i started hanging out with republicans). i think if everyone did just a little more for the planet (like not driving to work; score one for you), she'd be in much better shape.
(okay okay. i admit i rarely hang out with republicans. but i did live in alabama. which counts.)
My parents are republicans. I have to hang out with them once in awhile, and I like their company as long as we're not talking politics.
I drive my unruly dogs to the park, 1/2 mile away, which really stinks, but I also have my husband and daughter in tow, and they walk to school from there.
I clean up my dogs' poop and other litter. I buy from my local produce co-op (at $250 for a half share).
You know how much extra money it takes to be conscientious? I wonder if more people would if they could afford it.
Hey, gir! We are graduating! Weee ha! I hope you will join me for a celebratory crabcake. Let's get a gang together for about 4:00 Thursday!
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