i+alia [via wa+erloo] a to z :: w - wa+erloo

waterloo - that is where don't-be-ridiculous' people live in liverpool. i didn't know that, however, when i arrived at manchester airport from rome. italy being very lax about tourist entries, i didn't even think to ask her for her family's address until i saw the UK entry form. and the customs officer gave me a scolding. all i knew was that she was picking me up and that i would be staying with her with her family in liverpool. 'do you have any idea what part of liverpool you're staying in? do you realize how big liverpool is? where do you live? florida? it would be like me coming to the US and saying that all i know is that i'm staying in florida [thinking: not exactly, but i take your point]. what if your friend doesn't show up? what will you do then? i'll let you through this time slamming the stamper down on my passport, but for your own safety traveling internationally, you should really know where you're going.'

she was there. she! my loverpudlian. and i was ready for some of what Old Single Mom calls "Pure, Cranium Smashing Magic." OSM has been in (or through?) the wars, as they say over here, and this mom says nothing less than PCSM will do for her to give up her single status again. a good rule i think.

and that is what she (not her) and i have - PCSM. if you're not sure if you have it, my experience says you probably don't. i am not the arbiter of anyone's 'magic,' but i now know the difference.

so, back in waterloo...she shared with me the best of things. we had her mom's roast dinner with mushy peas and carrots and potato mash and mint sauce [delicious! as was the company we shared it with]. we walked along the sea shore, counting the Iron Men, members of Antony Gormley's Another Place. these cast iron figures stagger the sand staring out into the horizon. they are unmoving but dynamic as they interact with the natural elements. they are submerged or emerging or naked depending on the tide and the sand build up. their presence draws one's gaze out to the sea scape, the colors rising and falling, and the other english sea shores which i've discovered host different kinds of customs, a panorama of the diversity and (im)possibilities within societies. this is perhaps part of what the customs officer had in mind.

she and i walked and talked, and i gazed out over this landscape where she became who she is and where we thought together about where we might want to go.