“Are you a local?” asks a customer who is desperate for me to say yes, because she and her husband and the other couple with whom she is traveling are desperate for a truly local experience at my restaurant.
Yes, I am, I tell her.
“Oh, how wonderful!” she exclaims. “I told you she had to be a local,” she says to her husband.
“Have you lived here long?” asks the other woman. All four are beaming at me, willing me to say something locally witty and thus be someone locally colorful.
Well, yes, I say and pause.
“Do you just love it here?” asks the first woman.
I do. I really do, I smile.
“How long have you been here? Did you grow up here?” asks the second woman.
Four long weeks, I laugh, and yes, you could say I grew up here.
The four are speechless.
“Only four weeks? Oh my goodness, dear. Where did you come from?” asks the first woman.
D.C. by way of a Fort Lauderdale stopover that didn’t last too long, I say.
Now, in their eyes, I can tell that I am not so local, nor so witty or colorful. Oh well.
“We’re from the D.C. area,” says the husband of the first woman after an awkward moment. He stares hard at me, very serious. Then, “You’re living my dream, you know,” he smiles.
Everyone laughs. I am once again a colorful local, or at least the stuff that dreams are made of.
Are you ready to order? I ask. Fish baskets all around, they tell me. Easy.
At the four week mark in Fort Lauderdale I was desperately lonely and panic-struck. At the four week mark in the Keys, I am quietly settling in, settling down. Easy does it.
In Fort Lauderdale, it took me a good four months to make a friend with someone who would later turn out not to be a friend at all, what with all the drama that goes on in that town. In four weeks in the Keys, I have two good girlfriends who are just good people (yes, UW, you are one of the best)–laid back girls to whom drama is a joke. Easygoing.
I don’t know how often I laughed in Fort Lauderdale. It feels like nothing was ever that funny. I laugh every day in the Keys. I had the cook, the busser, the dishwasher, and my other girlfriend waitress laughing their asses off today when a brain bubble surfaced and I hung up a menu on the line instead of a ticket. Nice and easy.
I don’t hear one word or receive one text from any of the Fort Lauderdale boys. I still battle a persistent, underlying sadness because I don’t hear from the day-at-a-time boy who leveled my heart and left me broken and alone. He’s the only one I think about, but not every day, anymore. My local Keys boys now hear me when I tell them romance is not on the table. Not even remotely. They say they understand and then ask me what I am doing for the Super Bowl. Do I want to meet up with their friends to watch? I can leave the dog in one of their apartments. Really. Refreshingly easy.
I became scarily skinny in Fort Lauderdale. I couldn’t eat in Fort Lauderdale. I lived in a perpetual state of worry and angst. Rouletta, who matches my every mood and nuance, was too thin as well. The vet was worried about her. My D.C. friends and family were worried about the shell of myself I had become. In the Keys, Rouletta has gained two pounds and is back to her ideal weight; I have gained four pounds and feel like eating all the time. I’ll likely gain some more if I keep scarfing hash browns, grits, and slices of cheese at work. So easy.
Nothing is really that easy. But here, after four weeks, it is so, so much easier.
Comments
14 responses to “Four Easy Weeks”
In the name of the late Jesus Christ woman you eat more than any living thing I know. You will gain the weight you want by eating starch soaked with diesel fuel and the cheese flavored oil that sits on your sandwich line 10 hours a day. I just know it. That’s why you really moved here no?
Super Bowl Sunday woohoo!
You sound like you have really found a good place. That is great!
I’ve been reading for a while, and don’t think I’ve ever commented. Glad to hear you’re doing better. I’ve nominated your blog for 2009 blogger’s choice awards.
UW–You do see me at my best, i.e. eating like a truck driver. I do miss the fattening lunches you used to make me. And go Pittsburgh! We’ll have fun tonight.
Connie–I don’t know that you’ve commented before. Welcome. And yes, this is a pretty sweet place.
Biztone–Thanks for commenting. All is much better,thanks. But a huge thanks for the 2009 Blogger’s Choice nomination!
I think I have written this post in my own heart a thousand times over. Yes, this is exactly what it is like to live the dream. Go easy on yourself and enjoy the cheese!
You certainly sound much happier than before. Yay!
So good to hear 🙂
namaste–It’s not perfect, but it is soooooo much better than where I was.
DodgerGirl–I am. Thanks.
Kim–XO my friend.
Sounds like you picked a better place to move to.
I can’t believe that you are living in the Keys! Good luck down there!
JoeinVegas–So much better.
hungry–I can’t quite believe it, either. If anyone had told me when I left DC that in 18 months I’d be here…. But all is so much nicer here than Fort Lauderdale. Just no comparison.
I have laughed and cried with you. Thank God your happy. I know I feel better. Ft. Lauderdale is only good for the Orioles!!
Blewknight–Hopefully, we will now have so much more to laugh about.