Settling, thickly

[Intersection; 12:30pm, 1/27/08]

Emerging from the stupor of my cold virus this weekend, I had another wave of idiotic bliss in the midst of grimy urban/suburban life in all its glory. I drove to the grocery store Sunday in the slush-dirty snow -- my grocery store, where I now know where to find things, more or less, where I'm familiar with the quirky cashiers, where I know the unofficial cross/no-cross pedestrian rules of the parking lot. To get there, I first have to navigate the side streets in my neighborhood, which are really too narrow to park on and it's not allowed overnight, but come daylight people do park on the street, creating a slalom course or dodge-'ems ride to get through.

[Benches across from the grocery store]

I felt it again on my way to J's Sunday afternoon, just a couple of miles away through a bit of jostling Sunday traffic to the quiet snow-covered streets of her neighborhood. She had a nice party. J's daughter T and her adorable (and typically active) 3-year-old grandson were there, along with T's very tall and very handsome Turkish husband. T told me about visiting Istanbul and how much she loved it, her enjoyment of the Turkish women she met, how she'd move there in an instant if her husband wasn't so attached to Boston.

[J shares Ben & Jerry's Heath Bar Crunch with her grandson; 8pm, 1/27/08]

Although there was only the one small child at the party (3 years old but already as tall as a 5-year-old), something must have stuck in my brain. I woke this morning dreaming of many small boys playing a game to lodge themselves in my windowsills. Most were on the outside of the house, but I found a couple of them trying to fit into my inside windowsills and I had to shoo them out.

Comments

[marja-leena]

I've never seen a sign saying 'thickly settled'. At first it made me think of something layered on the earth, heh, but suppose it means crowded? You were really charmed by that young boy, weren't you!?

[Lorianne]

I think (?) those "thickly settled" signs are strictly a Massachusetts (possibly New England?) thing. I can't recall ever seeing one in the Midwest, so I'm guessing it's a regional indication that there are homes & businesses nearby, so driving over 30mph isn't a good idea.

But yes...a "thickly settled" sign next to a tanning salon & pizza joint is a perfect synecdoche for a greater Boston residential area. Great capture!

[Lucy]

How funny about the little windowsill boys, like little pixies or imps!

[Leslee]

Marja-Leena: Funny. Yes, must be a local type of sign. Yeah, very cute little boy.

Lorianne: I had to look up "synecdoche" :-) Okay, sure, guess that fits!

Lucy: It was an odd dream. And they were very impish.

[mm]

I'm smiling as I think about the little windowsill boys .....

[joanna]

You know, my father used to use the word "dodge-'ems," and I thought he was making it up. Down here in MD, we say "bumper cars."

[Lorianne]

Hmmmm, interesting. "Dodge-'ems" vs. "bumper cars" raises a philosophical point, doesn't it? Is the point of the ride to hit (bump) the other cars, or is the point to avoid hitting (dodge) them??

[Lorianne]

(Of course, in the context Leslee's talking about, you want to dodge those parked cars!) :-)

[Leslee]

MM: Funny dream. Odd how the brain works.

Joanna: I thought you grew up here - didn't they call 'em Dodge-'ems in Boston? I think at Canobie Lake Park, the closest amusement park to where I grew up, they called them Dodge-'ems, or maybe that's what I heard them called at home.

Lorianne: Funny - I hadn't thought about the dichotomy of that. I was too scared to go on them when I was young because there were little sparks that'd go off at the top of those cars where they touched the ceiling and I thought you'd get a shock when you were driving. So I never got on the ride until... well, I was an adult, can't remember when. I did "bumper boats" recently, which was way fun and the point was to ram others but also avoid getting rammed. But they didn't call them Dodge-'em boats!

Yeah, I think dodging rather than bumping is a really good idea when we're talking about parked cars or cars coming from opposite directions through those obstacle-course side streets.

[joanna]

Leslie, I was born in Boston, but I haven't lived there since I was five. You could say I got out of Dodge-em ; )

[Leslee]

:-)