Meetings

I’ve been waiting 40 minutes for a Zoom call. The message on the screen says “Waiting for the host to start this meeting”. I have a feeling I’ve wasted my morning waiting. Because aside from the meeting I put everything else on hold this morning. It isn’t much different than real life I guess. I think of one time when I was a child and waiting with my father for him to meet someone.

We stood outside in the fog. I held his hand and quietly wondered how long we’d be there before we could go out to the stables and see a new litter of puppies. I thought about how wonderful it would be to be like my brothers and get to wear trousers all of the time. I thought about how men never wore skirts, well, except in pictures in books of men who lived in exotic places. Men in exotic places wore whatever they wanted to. Then again there was my parent’s friend Glorianna who was a man but nobody knew it except a few close friends. As children we were sworn to secrecy not to tell anyone that our beautiful friend did not look like other women under her skirts. I didn’t care because I loved the pretty Vampire lady who had an infectious laugh like a man twice her size.

So my dad and I waited and waited and waited. He checked his pocket watch a zillion times. I wondered if he was feeling as if he wanted to let his fangs come out but as a child I never asked such things. As an adult I don’t ask such things. Anyway, after an hour we left. The puppies were precious black and white shepard/hearding type dogs. I would have loved to have taken one home but they were all spoken for.

In 1869 we didn’t have cell phones, or any phones to call people with. We didn’t have computers. We didn’t have electricity. Everything was written down and sent by messengers, or at least that is how my parents and their associates did business and social interactions.

These days Zoom and texts are the new normal. On the other hand I did get to see puppies this weekend. Maybe I’ll post photos later this week.

I’ll be down in Southern California visiting my kids. I’m excited. I hope to have posts from the road.

Stay safe. Wear a mask. Be kind. Don’t be a dick. Talk to your kids. Hug your dogs and cats. Check in on those who are elderly or who need a little extra help. Kiss a Vampire (you’ll thank me for that one later.)

~ Juliette aka Vampire Maman