The Lights Are On, But Nobody's Home

Thank you G6 for your creative and amusing title. It has been put to good use.


what's with flashing or honking friends as you drive by? I was at an intersection off of 306 this afternoon when I heard wild honking. I whipped my head around and shrieked to my kids, "what?! what is it? Do I have a flat? Did I run over a streimel? was it a streimel on a head? Is there a cop honking me? who is it? who is it?"

My kids stopped talking and just stared at me. I had a wild look and my whipping around flipped my shaitel into my mouth, and the ends got caught on my sunglasses. I was frightful looking.

Thank you to my friend who doesn't call me but feels the need to honk like a meshugana when she sees me.

OR...
flashing someone from behind them. I was waiting to turn a corner, when a minivan pulled up behind me, like really, really close behind me. then she started flashing her headlights. First I thought, "Are my lights on but they shouldn't be? Are my lights off when they should be on? Did I go through a red light? Was I suppose to turn?"
then I got annoyed and thought, no way is that female flashing her brights because I didn't make the left turn when there was a five second break between the 18 wheeler and the school bus. She must be kidding! I was really irked and distracted, then my youngest shouted, "Hey Ma! It's your friend _____!!"

when I drive, I drive. I flash my brights if it is 8:45 and getting dark and oncoming traffic doesn't have their lights on.

And I honk when someone is walking with their back to the traffic three feet off the shoulder. Or when I pull into a driveway to pick someone up.

You want to talk to me? great! CALL ME ON THE PHONE!!


now come up with a title for this post

I saw a couple today

today as I pulled into a parking lot I saw a couple getting out of a Camry.
The car looked well maintained, and they looked young, so I assumed they are a relatively new young couple. The guy came out first. He was not too tall, but well built. The latest in (what looked to me) cool athletic footwear. He had strong features, beautiful blue eyes (we got out of our car almost at the same time, and I notice blue eyes), and said something to his wife that made him smile- and it was a great smile.
He quickly stepped around the back of the car to get his wife, who was coming out of her side. She had beautiful auburn hair (the two inches of it I could see) and he said something to her that made her laugh- the classic tinkling sweet laugh you read about in Victorian novels and wait to hear. That was her laugh. He took her hand and they went into the store. I thought about how happy they looked. They have their whole future ahead of them, prime of their youth, a lifetime of raising kids, building relationships, enjoying life together. I sighed and thought how fast those 23 years have gone for me, since I was first married. Happy times, but gone by so quickly.

Later I saw an older couple getting out of a Toyota Camry. Actually, an old couple. The man was short and gave the appearance of having once been well built. He was wearing what was probably the latest is comfortable orthotic footwear, solid and comfortable. He had blue eyes which looked alert but he blinked a lot and rubbed his eyes. He leaned into the car and said something to his wife- and smiled a smile that probably still thrills her. He slowly made his way around the back of the car, holding onto the trunk for support, and pausing at least once. When he got to his wife to help her out, I could see her hair was dyed auburn - probably trying to keep the color it once had been in her youth. He said something to her that made her laugh, a slow, trembling, delicate laugh, low timbre. Her hand shook a bit as she gave him her hand, and together they slowly shuffled towards the store. I thought of how they had probably been a lifetime together, raising a family, seeing happy times and hardships, going through their prime years and now their golden years. They were now as they had been when they were first married, just older, more comfortable with each other, more entwined.
I hope those years will be so wonderful for me. I didn't think the first 23 would go by so quickly, and I hope the next decades are filled with happiness and contentment. Like I saw on the faces of both couples.

I Saw A Woman Today

I saw a woman today whom I used to sit behind in shul.
She was always dressed beautifully.
Her hats always matched her dresses.
Her daughter was slim, pretty, very with it, popular with the crowd of young people hanging around outside of shul.
Her husband was a "macher" in the shul- loud, outspoken, rich and influential in shul politics.
She seemed, back then, bigger than life.

I saw her today and almost didn't recognize her.
I haven't grown much in the past 20 years. She must have shrunk a little.
Her hair wasn't "done".
As she pushed the shopping cart she was shuffling along. In her practical orthopedic shoes and a long denim skirt. She looked so old. And frail. And smaller.

I saw a woman today whom I knew when I was young and she was my mother's contemporary.

what happened?

20 years passed by. Life has continued. She is a great grandmother.

The things that I noticed that seemed important 20 years ago are not so important now.
She didn't know who I was.