Wednesday, April 19, 2023 New Eyes and the Bathroom Lady

I’ve taken a lot of photos of things far away, using the telephoto lens to help me get up close. I put that lens away for a season. It’s time to focus (as it were) on things that are right next to me, things I can hold a camera up to nearly touching them. I’m training my eyes to see what I usually walk right past. Come along with me.

In other news, let me tell you a tale of real life, a small comedy.

I went into a public bathroom today. As I was washing my hands an older lady came out of a stall to wash her hands. “I didn’t think we were going to get here on time,” she said. We were the only two people in this small bathroom, so I felt as though I’d been dropped into a scene without a script. She went on to tell me something about some town in Minnesota. “Are you from around here?” she asked. “No, we’re just traveling through.” I told her where we were from and she offered up that she was familiar with it and told me the city where her son lived, not far from us. “Oh, my sister lives there,” I told her, somewhat surprised that we were still talking to each other. “Really! Well, we live in Spearfish, now,” she went on. At this rate, I expected we’d be exchanging phone numbers any minute. “I’ve been to Spearfish!” I told her, drawn almost against my will into this cozy little exchange. “We visited a church there.” Why was I telling her these things? She perked up and asked, “Was it Our Savior’s Lutheran?” Growing fonder by the moment of this lady, I had to inform her that sadly, it was not. I was ready to leave and suddenly didn’t know how to end this connection, two strangers talking in a bathroom. Instead of a simple “goodbye,” what came out of my mouth was, “It was nice seeing you!” What on earth possessed me?!

I told my husband about it afterward and great was our mirth.

I’ll prolly delly this in the morny.