We're picnicking, Sylvia called out as I hit 75 mph on my bike going down that big hill to the river flats under the Washington Ave. bridge. Did I just see a very colorful woman blowing bubbles on a wide and people-less swath of grass next to a glassy river, all syrupy in the stillness? If you are me, this is not something to be processed and calmly filed under Stuff I Saw along with trees and asphalt. Eventually I stopped. And came back. Hi, what's your name? I'm Sylvia, and she extended her non-bubble hand. Seconds and many sentences later, she offered her card. When I asked what she did, she said, Arrrrrrrrtist. When I said I liked what she was wearing, she told me it's Liberty of London for Target, x-small, that she got for $1 at a thrift store today because no one can wear that small shit.
Now you are wondering why there's that picture of the red gym shorts up above Sylvia. Those are the shorts I was wearing, that I got at a thrift store for 99 cents. And bless her heart, Sylvia noticed immediately that they are emblazoned with the Nieman Marcus logo, and she got the irony of cotton gym shorts, those most utilitarian of garments, made by Niemans. Be true to your school. Hauter education. Sylvia is the only other person who has noticed this and gotten the irony, and I love her for it. We virtual fist bumped.
She has a vintage Raleigh bike with orange frame and white fenders that used to belong to someone who died of AIDS. It's like the bike died and went to heaven.
1 comment:
Marvelous picture! Marvelous story!
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