People Watching

Today was a day of people watching.  This morning my sister and I took her son’s Mini Cooper to Santa Ana for a service.  The dealership was a huge place, acres of expensive cars; for sale, for service.  Her son had mentioned that we didn’t have to wait there, we could take the shuttle to South Coast Plaza, which we did.  We were dropped off at Macy’s at the Mall and wandered inside.  I am always overwhelmed by big stores with so much merchandise and this was no exception.  We found ourselves in a department with beautiful beaded sparkly dresses which we held up to us and imagined wearing.  I wondered who would wear these very heavy $500 dresses and where.  Such frocks seemed suited for the Oscars.  We wandered out into the marble floored Mall, where banks of orchids were in the planters and the stores were high end - Gucci, Armani, and other European brands I’d never encountered.  “Disneyland for shoppers,” my sister said.  I thought there must be big money around here.  The first vision from the Mall is a pair of young Japanese girls with beautiful dresses and sparkly shoes running joyously with “Kitty Kat” balloons.  After walking the length of the Mall, we decided we’d had enough and would rather sit outside and wait for the shuttle to pick us up.  Tired from our adventure, we returned back to the sanctuary of the Island to recover.  We had a lovely uneventful afternoon, shopping on Main Street here on Balboa Island where we found all the beautiful things we didn’t find at the Mall.  Sitting in the evening on the porch sipping our wine, we saw the second remarkable vision.  Across the street a thin older woman very well dressed in a snappy outfit with a white hat with a wide black ribbon on it came out of a house and was walking down the sidewalk, vigorously clicking a clicker held out in front of her and calling “Stop, stop” to her dog who was running up the sidewalk oblivious to her machinations.  We thought her clicker for the shock collar must have had dead batteries.  It was a scene that was made for television.  We laughed belly laughs, with snorts and tears in our eyes.  We were glad she wasn’t aware of us.  It was a full and happy day where I appreciated what our secluded comfortable home away from the hustle bustle of Orange County.  I am very grateful to be here with my sister and to share “visions” and experiences and time together.