A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day....06-22-04....The Fine Art of Waving

Billie

[Billie]

A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day

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A custom of the country: Is it merely a polite gesture?
By Jo'el Freeman

M y husband will wave to anyone. He attributes this tendency to a span of time he spent on a small island off the coast of Rhode Island. There, the only people that didn't wave to you in passing were tourists - and you certainly didn't want to be accused of being one of those. Besides, he feels that waving is an act of goodwill and that even the grumpiest person will feel a little better after being greeted by a hearty wave.

That's why, when we moved from a house in the woods to a house on a main road, we continued our custom of waving whenever a familiar car drove by. A sense of neighborliness required us to do so.

My husband and I take turns standing in front of our house with our second grader as she waits for the school bus. Every day, the same people drive by on their way to work or school. There is the small pink vehicle we call the Barbie car, for example, and the c. 1970s van covered with gray patches of body filler that we refer to as the Hippiemobile. Some drivers give us a big smile and wave like we've known one another all our lives. Others start out tentatively, moving their hand only slightly so that if we don't wave back they can pretend they were only fixing their hair or scratching their forehead.

I understand their hesitation. Unlike my spouse, I can't bring myself to wave to everyone. Once, while we were on one of our exploring jaunts, we found an appealing back road that turned out to be a good shortcut to a lake. We had to slow down considerably to negotiate a sharp curve. Just beyond the bend, we were surprised by an elderly woman sitting in a green lawn chair situated directly on the side of the road. As we passed her, she waved. It turns out she sits there every day and waves to every car that happens to gy by. I have always felt she must be a little eccentric or lonely. But this is reading a lot into the situation, because she looks very contented. Anyway, a part of me fears that people will think I am eccentric if I start waving to every car that goes by our house. After all, I am home a great deal more than my husband is!

You probably would be surprised, though, to discover how many people wave to us first now. Some people accompany the gesture with a toot of their horn, which is the heartiest kind of wave. Friends from town that come to visit us and relax with us on our front porch soon find themselves automatically raising their hand in salute to passersby. I always tell these congenial guests that they have just learned the fine art of waving.

Yesterday I went to the post office. In the lobby, standing in front of me in line, was a man I have waved to almost daily for the past four years. He heard my toddler babbling behind him and turned around to look.

"How you all doing? Boy, this one sure is getting big!" he said to me, smiling at my child.

"She surely is! I have to watch her every minute," I replied.

"I'll bet. Hey, that new deck looks great!"

"Thanks - we love it."

"Well, have a great day - nice seeing you."

"You, too! Bye-bye."

The funny thing is, we had never met before.

THIS WEEK'S THREADS 06-21-04 Military Monday

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[WVNan]

I would say you are correct about the primal leftover. I've always loved the smell of wood smoke. I can come unglued in the fall if there is wood smoke in the air. I get all weepy.

[WVNan]

Maybe you're on to something there Darks. Just manufacture an after shave that smells like smoke and get rich.

[WVNan]

Thank you Colleen. Good to hear from you.

[Darksheare]

It's weird.
I'll be standing somewhere at times and have strange women run their hands through my hair.
And if I've just been tending a campfire, I've got that hickory/oak woodfire smoke cloud following me around and THEN things get weird.
Snuffling behind my head followed by weird growling, and there's just a harmless looking young lady standing there.
It gets really weird.

Still haven't had a good explanation for it at times, but it does seem to be a primal holdover as mentioned.
Weepy?
As in the "That's beautiful" type weepy?

[Darksheare]

Or be accused of trying to destroy BBQ time by way of having everyone otherwise occupied more likely.

[WVNan]

Yeah, nostalgic for some unknown time & place that was so beautiful it makes me weep with longing. How weird is that?

[Darksheare]

Not weird, but not common these days.
Was more common in a years past.
I tend to associate smell with memories, like grumbacher oil paints and sawdust remind me of grandpa's workshop and certain perfumes remind me of certain people and places.

[deadhead]

Your'e Welcome. Good to 'see' you :-)

[WVNan]

you're right. Smells do trigger our memories. I was a child during the Great Depression. We lived in a shanty with no electric or plumbing. We heated with a fireplace and cooked on a wood stove. So those smells do bring back memories of a simpler, innocent time. Frying bacon always reminds me of my aunt.

[Darksheare]

There are times I'll smell something specific, and I'll go nuts trying to figure out where it's coming from.
Reason being that I've got memories flashing through my head like a horrible lightswitch malfunction and have to track the source of the scent to get the memory flashes out of my head.

[dutchess]

What a sweet thread sistah billie....

Giz asked me to do post a "drive by" wave. Home maintenance problems here (burst water softener and lots of carpet damage) sigh....

Hugs to all....Nan...your little grandbaby is PRECIOUS...So can we all be surrogate aunts and uncles???

Have a great evening everyone!

[Diver Dave]

[MeekOneGOP]

Oh, great pic ! I had forgotten about THAT 'wave' ! :^D

Click here or click the pic
and turn your speakers up !

[MeekOneGOP]

Oh, man. And so sorry about your carpet damage due to the busted water unit. :^(

[WVNan]

Yeah, some things haunt more than others.

[WVNan]

You are indeed all aunts and uncles. After all, we are family.

[WVNan]

Oh dear! I didn't know that the water softener could burst. I have a Culligan system on the drinking water in the kitchen. We had the tank system taken out after I discovered that the plastic sinks hated that salt softened water. ruined all my sinks.

[MeekOneGOP]

I don't have any filters for my water except for my liver, kidneys and spleen, lol !
Hope none of them burst like that ! :^D

[WVNan]

LOL. We surely hope not Meeky.

[MeekOneGOP]

hehe ! :^D