our spring trip, post 1: the people of our travels

Three airplanes took Z and I to the southwest for a sweet and short reunion with Jason after six weeks apart. These are some of the characters we saw, heard, or interacted with. (When I have better internet, I'll post pics and tell of our travels after that point, including Portland and Sequim. For immediate reportage on our time in Portland, you could visit Rachel's blog or this link at Christi's blog.)

• In one airport, Zoralee gave her tiny plastic horses to a little Indian boy in purple tennis shoes. Sidenote: I can already hear my mother saying, "She was probably a girl! See how confusing it is when people don't dress their children like obvious boys or girls?" To which I reply, "Yes, I see now," because it took me several minutes to decide boy, and I'm still not willing to bet the farm. However, we put Zoralee in a thick plaid hand-me-down jacket today, a very boyish article, and she looked more like herself than in pink, that's for sure. I thought mauve pants would even her out, but she was called a boy with the utmost of confidence by a grandmotherly store clerk. End of sidenote. The Indian boy. He accepted Z's peace offerings as she placed them in his hands one by one, and then he promptly threw them about the waiting area. Z sat on my lap and stared at him, as she does new people, and was resolute to not go with him when he tried to drag her away by the wrist.

• I speculated that the boy's parents were married by arrangement. She was young, very beautiful, and sullen; he must've had 15 years on her and was not a handsome or friendly man. His eyes were harsh and cold. The two of them expressly avoided communication with each other, and she exuded the sentiment that the sooner he dropped over of a heart attack, the better.

• On our longest flight, from Seattle to L.A., we shared a seat with a very affectionate, Asian, teenage, lesbian couple. It was our most random seat pairing, wouldn't you agree? The gal right next to us took an immediate interest in Zoralee, and was very helpful the whole flight long, during her breaks from cuddling. At one point, as I was nursing Z, she pulled the blanket aside and peeked in to see how Z was doing. It was really funny. There wasn't a lot of verbal exchange, or rather, when I tried that, I was met with a blank stare, but she was so patient as Z passed her piles of books and toys.

• In the motel restaurant one morning, Zoralee was sat up to the table in her Sassy Seat when she was approached by a 10-year old boy with fuzzy red hair, who wore a t-shirt that said, "GOD WINS." He jumped around and played peek-a-boo and generally set about entertaining Z, while his mother tried to persuade him to come eat. Later we saw him in the hall playing with a yo-yo which he had taken up the day before; turned out our rooms were across the hall from each other. He asked Zoralee's name, and when I told him, he said, "Well that's just cute," like a kind, old man.

• One night, I could hear the people next door arguing, though actually, it was the woman doing the work. Phil just listened.

• Generally speaking, it surprises me how loud people in motels are late at night, both in their rooms and walking down the hallways. It's like they forget they are in a place where other people have specifically come and paid good money to sleep. The people who wish to sleep might even have babies, you know? And the babies might have a hard time settling down when there are loud, sporadic noises, conversations, knocks on doors and subsequent yelling to "come on out, Hank! The car's started!" Hello. Hi. Yeah, we're on the other side of a really thin door from you, and since it's the middle of the night, we're sleeping. Last night I fantasized about opening our door and slapping a sign on the outside that said, "WE'RE SLEEPING. SHUT YER PIE HOLE." Why pie hole, I don't know. Just seems like a redneck intervention is the only thing that would get through.

• In the same store where Z was called a boy (though that's hardly newsworthy; it happens continually), a man walked up to Jason, who was holding Z, and said to Z in a reeeeally high-pitched, loud voice, "Hiiiii! How are youuuuuuuuu???" I guessed by his behavior that he was deaf or mentally handicapped, so I smiled at his joy over Zoralee. But then he said to Jason "Adorable" in a super low base voice at normal speed! It surprised us both. Then he repeated the whole thing, verbatim. "Hiiiiiii! How are youuuuuuu???" to Z, and this time he grabbed her face. Jason pushed his arm down and away. It was kind of freaky. Then he repeated "Adorable" in the base voice again. Oh my gosh; it was just really, really strange. Almost like he was possessed. But I think he was just drunk.