Hotels fascinate me. Walk for just a while in the lobby or the outdoor areas and without much effort you can see every facet if the society around you. A group of lineman drinking beer an the back of a truck, a woman in what is surely a formal dress bridesmaid maybe in sneakers weaves on her feet as she waits to check in, a sunburned family with pool floats and children leaning heavy onthereblegs, and overheard an adoption meeting mother and daughter, last weary travellers if all ages and at a corner table a group of business suits and laptops. So many stories under one roof.
At the end of the hall a mom throwing together a birthday party for a child .Is she somehow living here and just trying to make it all seem normal? The place is full. Have we all have just grown So tired of a pandemic we have escaped just to change the scenery. The parking lot would be a treasure trove for kids who are hunting license plates I saw 10 states in two minutes.
Most of the places we have stopped there have been crowds most wearing mask. Which again surprises me. You hear so much dissent you expect no one will comply. I am amazed at the landscape of faces all half covered. We are a resilient group we humans.
I have to wonder what mom would think. She would be nervous for sure. Of course I can barely get her to go outside to the mail. So no worries the crazy world of masked hotel occupants will scare her.
I am shocked how busy the world is. I am washing my hands like a speed freak with ocd and others are drinking beers and leaning in to whisper to a stranger. It is a strange world to navigate. But I am happy to be in it not at home for a short time.
The weather is crisp and lends itself to the clusters of people in the outdoor spaces. It’s bonfire weather. Time for stories and drinking and laughing too loud. I am not sure when I will be ready to navigate that part of the world again. For now I am to be a masked observer keeping my distance. I am reminded though as I walk that this weather these rolling hills this season would have given old mom joy. She would have been smiling all day.
MIDDLE OF LIFE CRAZY 