Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Gray flannel and crisp white bonnets

Tonight I was at our local Wal-Mart... I know, it's all we have though... and in the next aisle I hear the sounds of children speaking in a language other than English. Hmm?? Sounds German to me? (You'd think after two years of college German I ought to recognize it.) Around the corner a little tot in a gray flannel dress and bonnet comes, with another girl, and a boy, and another girl, and mother with a littler tot yet in the cart, and father with one in his arms. We do not live far from Amish communities but it is not usual to see a young family like this one in our town.

In our WalMart, kid-boring things like toothpaste and shampoo aisles go directly into the pet section and a wall of aquariums. The sounds of joy these children let out made me smile no end. I had forgotten how a simple joy of a big tank of colorful fish can be. Their giggles were delightful.

They went their way and I went mine. I met up with them again in another part of the store. As I looked down the aisle, here were three girls in their dark gray dresses all looking at swimming suits. Have you ever seen girls swimming suits at WalMart? Can you imagine? The color is screaming neon and flower prints in pinks and purples. It was an amazing image to see these girls sneaking a peek and a touch of the fabric. Priceless.