steve informed me a few weeks back that the US Postal service is obsolete--privatize. i said, "here we go". and we laughed. his explanation...it hasn't changed..."some young guy wants to take over the market and...",. i can't help myself, "no one is stopping him". the conversation turns to the postage stamp. and we laugh--and laugh--and laugh. "tyranny" leaks into the conversation, "didn't we start this country by overthrowing the postage stamp?" not quite. but the story sticks, doesn't it?
steve informed me last evening that there are five steps in making a cup of hot chocolate. i think i just looked at him dumbfounded. "are you kidding me?" and he rolled right into his explanation. not much different from the appropriate way to make a cup of tea...but not so american really. (postage stamp theme...the legacy of things that we carry forward).
a few months back while i was on my way out to the bus. steve woke and said,"i was having a weird dream. you were getting ready for work and robin mead was skinny dipping". it's difficult to laugh that hard when you are waking up, but he did (we did). "i think you need to go back and finish that dream." and with a kiss good-bye i was off.
freddie walked in while i was reading and steve was watching his favorite show, "the big bang theory". i don't remember the characters names, but there is a tall guy who is extremely pedantic and all that goes with that type of mind. he ordered a sandwich, but was upset because the order of the meat, cheese, lettuce, etc was incorrect. freddie happened to walk in at the same time i was losing it pointing at steve. "rewind, rewind, rewind". freddie laughs at us. he finds this stuff incredibly fun and i believe uses it as material to amuse his friends. steve finally rewinds after informing us again and again, "there's a really good reason he was that order". we watch the scene again. freddie laughs and laughs and laughs. he says, "you would do that." more laughter. steve as steve says, "wait, let's hear the explanation." and so this character goes on to explain that the order of the ingredients is important because the cheese acts as a barrier between the bread and the lettuce so the bread does not get soggy." steve is victorious. only in the realm of normal--where this order of things isn't even a consideration, there is a flaw. the mustard and mayo are not solids...they are put on the bread and therefore it's just an issue of how much moisture--not the moisture itself.
i think...i know these are the most incredible small things in the world. i wish i had their laughter on tape, the poking, the prodding, the upmanship, the joy. i try to keep it fresh in my mind--this peace and rightness in my world. all the details. the interaction of their neurons firing in every direction at once. to be a part of it--how lucky is that?
very lucky.
incredibly lucky.