People Watching

*This picture is from our trip out west. Even though it has nothing to do with my posting I thought it was a cute picture!


Today we had swimming lessons again. We had to run errands afterward so I took a change of clothes for John Russel and Mae. Will and I were dressed and ready to go. So I sat and watched the kids lessons on one of the pool chairs under an umbrella. The pool was getting crowded as people arrived for their daily swim. Most of them were Moms with kids. I had the best time people watching.





I love to sit and watch people. I guess it's like how we like to watch animals at the zoo. I love to see what they are wearing and how they do their normal "thing". There was this one mom that was covered in tattoos and wore a string bikini. I found her very interesting. She was telling one of her children to do something that she obviously didn't want to. As the child stood there whining I felt a silent bond form with this woman. I had just done the same thing at home trying to apply sunscreen. Then there was the Hispanic lady with four kids. She came stumbling over to a pool chair with her arms loaded with pool "stuff". As she unloaded her loot her children went scrambling this way and that, a few jumping in the pool. She had to ask a man teaching his child to swim if he could grab her almost drowning child. Another silent bond formed. Didn't I do almost this same thing swimming with Mother in her pool with Mae a few years ago. A young father and mother were over by the stairs with a baby. The baby was greased up with sunscreen and had a little white hat complete with chin strap. They were enjoying playing and splashing with the baby. I don't think their eyes left that baby one time. Big smiles were plastered on both of their faces. How that takes me back to having only John Russel in the pool to play with. Oh, he used to splash and splash. Instant bond formed.





Funny how watching people, so different than me, can make me form this weird connection. I guess it's like seeing someone that you can never imagine having anything in common with and instantly realizing that they are not that different than you. Children have done this for me. The love I have for them and the things that I've experienced because of them have taken me places and opened doors for me that I would have never thought possible. They've made me realize that we are sharing this crazy thing called life with many strangers that have had the same adventures (or misadventures) that I have had. They make the world smaller and then again remind us of how small we all really are.