Exercises in style

Bus Ride Home

Every Thursday evening I stand at the bus stop waiting for the 62 to 124^th Street to come pick me up and take me back home.  Its raining outside and my new jacket is getting wet because I forgot to being my umbrella today.  Boy is it windy out too; not only is my hair completely a mess, but it’s starting to get all frizzy and curly, which happens every time it rains.  5:28 and the bus arrives, on time today, thank goodness!  Door opens and I step inside, show the bus driver my ID and proceed to the back left side of the bus to find an open seat.  Due to the time of evening no open seats are left so I choose a seat next to this older women with grey, clearly permed hair, large glasses and a peacock broach on her sweater.  The next twenty minutes I spend reading my current read, which is Ninteen Minutes by Jody Piccoult.  The climax of the book is really pulling me in that I hardly notice the older lady getting up to leave mumbling “excuse me ma’am I am getting off here.”  I move aside and watch her walk off the bus and down the sidewalk.  I wonder where she is going, but wherever it is she it may take her a while, especially with that limp she has.  I wonder what happened to cause her limp, was she born that way, or did she fall?  I have an Aunt who fell and broke her hip so maybe that is what happened to her.  I glance down to the current page number and notice I am on page 422, which means only 33 more pages to go so I climb back into the text and finish the rest of my bus ride home.    

Older Women’s Ride Next to Me

 

Today was a very long day.  I awoke at 5:45 am to my face being licked by my cat Pearl.  She is a sweet little thing, and I enjoy her company, though not at 5:20 in the morning per say.  When I was a young girl I used to love sleeping in till ten or eleven in the morning but those days are over and for the past 10 years or so its rise and shine around five, six if I am lucky.  I blame my age and restlessness, at 75 years old I am pretty mobile, except for my darn limp.  I was eighteen years old when I broke my leg, well shattered it actually.  They had to put in a metal rod with all these pins in order to put my leg back together.  With eight kids and bills to pay my parents couldn’t afford to put me through physical therapy.  So I did the therapy the doctors told me to do, but needless to say it didn’t pay off and so here I am limping around.  Don’t get me wrong, I am not the kind of women to feel bad for myself.  I actually look at my limp as a unique attribute to who I am.  Besides, I get special treatment with handicap parking spots.  Things need to be done around the house today, baking, dishes, some grocery stopping, which reminds me I need to also stop at the bank on my way to the store.  I walk into the kitchen and look at the bus schedule.  The bank closes at six, and the bus ride there, plus my walking to the bank takes about 20 minutes and if the bus comes at 5:20pm then I will need to be at the bus stop around 5:15. Perfect I have my day all planned out, now its time to bake some of my homemade oatmeal cookies. 

…… 5:15pm

Walking out to the bus stop I notice how windy it is.  I didn’t plan for the wind with neither a scarf or gloves with me.  Winter is coming and I am not looking forward to it this year.  At the bus stop I notice a few others waiting, Sandra my neighbor, Bill her husband, and Chuck the war veteran.  We wave to each other and mention how windy it is.  The bus arrives at 5:20 and we enter one at a time.  I notice two seats open on the left and immediately take one, since I cannot stand for very long with my leg.  Once everyone is on the bus takes off.  I enjoy riding the bus because I get to see all the different people going to and from, some happy, some rude, and some just plain loud blasting that ipod music.  The next stop picks up a bunch of young students from school.  A young girl sits down beside me and I immediately smell her fresh perfume, or maybe it’s the scent of her hair from the products she puts in it to make it look nice.  I wish my hair still had the same brown color I used to have, but now its turning very grey.  I want to ask her what year in school she is and what she is studying, but she takes out a book right away and begins to read.  I try to see the title of the book, but cannot see that either.  My stop is coming up soon.  I pull the stop requested chord.  The girl doesn’t seem to notice I have to leave, which must mean she is really into her book. I wonder what the book I about?  I start to get up to leave and the girl doesn’t move.  “Excuse me ma’am I am getting off here.” I say to her, and she politely moves aside.  I wonder if she or anyone else on the bus noticed my limp, but I am sure they did because it’s not very easy to hide.  I begin my walk to the bank which is only two blocks away and then I will go to the grocery store to get milk, fruit, and some pasta.