Monday, June 25, 2007

Growing Up, Changes etc.

We spent the weekend decamping from the Condo in Burlington. I Rented a truck from Ryder and spent nine hours packing it on Saturday. So, back down on the farm. Actually, more like "up to" the farm since it is north of Burliongton. My new job is part time as a lawyer for the state agency that deals with the disabled and the elderly. Every one is nice. They are helpers. We are all state workers. It is a relief.

I am reminded frequently of the 90s phenom movie "Paris is Burning." That was the movie about transvestites in NY who "vogued" (remember that?) I actually saw this movie in Soho in NY, not a place I get to frequently. Several of the audience members seemed to know the people on screen, which made the experience especially memorable - but I digress. I saw the movie only once, but the last bit made an impression on me. As I remember it, the closing line was delivered by this old broad who was putting on his make up in front of a mirror. It was something to the effect of how we do our best and that's not always enough to make you loved and famous, it will just have to do. He then said something like, and "if you shoot an arrow and it goes real high, good for you."

I guess I am not likely to get any arrows up very far at this stage. I ascended briefly to the heights of Vermont lawyering (not very high, depending on your frame of reference); struggled for breath and have now retreated, surviving only just. Forgive the mixed metaphor. Oh well. Another one who has missed her calling. In this new job I am at least feeling better about the work that lawyers do.

Other thoughts: driving the Ryder truck back down to Burlington last night I saw a motorcycle come up fast behind me. It was built for speed and a smallish young woman (I assume she was young given the bare leg that was showing) was hanging on tight to the guy who was driving it. Oh, I thought, that's what makes the world go round. She had on plaid shorts and loafers so it was not your typical biker scenario. My next thought was, in a few years, it might be my daughter hanging on tight to some guy speeding down the highway on a summer night with nothing between her and the pavement. Whether it makes the world go round or not, I don't want my daughter (funny I didn't think of my son as the driver...) in any such position. I wonder if her mother knew? I doubt that there is anything a mother can do about this sort of thing and I guess I would have liked to have been in that girls' position -- maybe I still would.