the oldies
During all my bellyaching about the public transit system or my misadventures I forget to mention the good stuff that happens on a daily basis. Well today was a perfect example of a little moment I'd like to share.I used to be a prolific reader. I also used to have a lot more contact with old people than I do now. When I used to have more time I would tear through at least a book a month, sometimes two. No I'm lucky if I read one every 4-6 months. Unfortunately through the course of the past year and a half I don't sit down long enough to read more than a page or two. Magazines are my bread and butter these days becaues they provide the best reading fodder for my bus trips. Luckily I've discovered the #7 Dunbar bus in the past couple of months. It takes no less than 25 minutes to trundle me to and from downtown Vancouver from my home. This is my reading time.
This month's issue of Vogue features age and women of all ages talking about their age. Yes, a tired premise but there are some pretty good articles in this issue. I was reading an article about a women named Judith Jones, who is in her 80s and still works as a editor for Knopf Publishers. A really cool quote struck me: "A tavola non s'invecchia" or 'At the table no one ever grows old. The author was writing about how food and age are connected. At that moment I looked up and the bus had stopped in probably one of my favourite spots on Nanaimo Street, near Parker. It's a neighborhood of A-frame ranchers build compact and bursting with history. Most of the residents of this area are of Asian decent, probably Chinese or Italian/Portuguese. Flashes of time spent in Joburg's various little Italies and little Portugals flooded my head. Also at this same moment a stately old man hobbled onto the bus. He was a dapper looking old Italian man, whose friends (two women in their summer mumus and a gentleman in sustpenders with a big roman nose) dropped him off. It was almost spooky. Did I mention I'm superstitious as well?
I decided to bury my nose back into the Vogue to try and finish the article before we got to Broadway. As I finished the article I panicked and pulled the cord. Again, a little serendipity. I pulled it 3 stops before my regular one. I didn't mind the walk down Nanaimo. As I strolled I ran into 2 more sets of old people. A great granny being walked by her daughter, a granny no doubt. An older man walking in his walker around the corner from where I live. Sweet man. Sometimes they all smiled and winked. (I love winking, winking is a lost art form that I feel I need to carry on as a form of communications for generations to come. )
Not a bad way to end a Thursday really.
posted by Miranda @ Thursday, August 11, 2005
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