What Makes Us Smile

I've seen the "amused smile, " when someone appreciates a witty statement or a joke.

There's the kind of smile I see when people watch puppies or babies or children. It's a warm, fuzzy thing.

There's no expression that compares to the "I feel loved smile."

It's not like "thank you for the award or praise." This smile, rather, is quite rare.

I recognized it today on the face of a woman who was driving and talking on her cell phone. I wondered who she might be talking to.

I felt it when my Grandma said, I love you" as I was leaving the nursing home on Saturday morning.

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The End

The end of the season and my last day of work at The Amusement Park feels something like the end of a long, entertaining film.

I'm tired and ready to move on, yet I so enjoyed the scenery, the characters, and the story line that I'm also feeling a little bit sad that there's no more.

I dare say a sequel would never be as good. How could anyone fill the roles of The International Students, my sweet teenage coworker friends, and the fantastic cooks and managers?

It was a warm, sunny summer, a drought by most standards. The park was busy and guests were happy.

People were generous with tips. My own family enjoyed the fringe benefits of discounts and leftover bacon.

I have next weekend free. And the weekend after that. I'm weirded out, " like  a person who is walking out of a dark theater into the sun.

Time to adjust. Time for "the end."

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Elegance

Today is our 21st wedding anniversary. We are celebrating with friends at a football game, hardly an elegant affairs.

I've been thinking about elegance lately. My friend Yuko commented that a mutual friend found a very elegant man to marry. Elegant (from Maryland), unlike the men around here (he knows how to dance).

I once confessed to her that dinner at my house was like eating with a pack of werewolves from The Twilight series. Picture Jacob and his brothers, sparring and howling.

Yesterday I visited a local village and its elegant library. It was housed in a former university building. I relaxed for a minute, maybe two, by its enormous mahogany fireplace.

I used to be more comfortable with elegance. When my grandparents were alive we frequented country clubs and art museums. Elegance is now a rarity and I find that I tend to equate it with wealth as opposed to refinement.

But it is also poetry, classical music and art...and manners.

Should I be exposing the boys to the more elegant side of life more often? How can I infuse more elegance into our home?

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That One Thing

I promised myself that I would STAY PUT today. I am staying home, not only because my car is broken down and in the shop, but because I want to practice better self discipline.

I want to finish the laundry and dishes instead of leaving the job half done.

I'm pulling the sweaters and boots out of storage. I hope to do some filing.

But there's no milk for my morning coffee. One teen drank it all while I ran the other to morning gym.

I require two cups of coffee every morning. And now I'm terribly tempted to run to town, go to campus, return bottles, etc.

So instead I'm drinking some very expensive Japanese tea that my good friend brought from Tokyo.

It has a strange flavor, reminiscent if seaweed.

I'm hoping it delivers the caffeine punch she claimed, to keep me going through my fifth laundry load and third dish strainer in this, the 10 o'clock hour.

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Balance

I often think about balance...eating a balanced diet, resting some between work days, and giving compliments as much as or more than I give instructions.

The summer months were off balance with regard to being on my feet. I now have a terrible time sitting still unless I'm asleep.

At the opposite end of the spectrum is the lifestyle at the nursing home. Elderly folks, mostly women, sit for days on end. They stare at the same faces, listening to the same stories and tired old jokes.

This week my good friend Yuko, who lives in Tokyo, visited. Unlike her last few visits when I was overscheduled and overtired, we found time to eat out, scrapbook, and stroll. I learned about her best childhood friend and we talked about health care proxies.

It was a good balance.

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Ordinary Heroes

If you haven't read read the story of What She Did Last Week...you should. It will brighten your day.

Stories

This summer I became good friends with a young Mexican woman named Ruby. She came through a student work program and she landed in my restaurant, cooking and washing dishes in our hot kitchen all summer long.

She gave up a year of university to come, as the program ended long after the start of the Mexican "Fall semester."

She really came to find her father, who, for the last thirteen years has worked two jobs in San Francisco, a jewelry store by day and a restaurant by night. He sent money back to the family in Mexico but he himself could not travel. As an undocumented worker he would lose his source of income and even, perhaps his life, if he were to try to re-enter the U.S.

I wondered what she would find when she got to San Francisco? What if he had a second family there?

She always spoke of him with nothing but fondness. Over the thirteen years he had faithfully called home.

Ruby posted pictures this morning of Alcatraz, cable cars, Pier 39 and sea lions. And pictures of her dad.

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