DINNER, NAKED OLD MEN, AND SNOW

Another huge nor'easter in Maine today . . .in fact it is still snowing pretty strong and its after 8pm as I write this. This is some winter; I've seen a ton of 10-12 inchers this in the past two months (thats what SHE said!!!).

Last night Brick and Nacho took us out to Asian Cafe--probably the Goldsmith's favorite restaurant. Neither one of us have ever had anything there that wasnt purely delicious. In the photos you can see some "Asian roll" (which is just tofu in the middle) and "Spicy Tuna roll," which I tried for the first time last night (thats what she said--again!). My dinner, which is pictured as well, consisted of basil chicken, some homemade crab rangoons, and a nice little salad with this really neat pureed carrot dressing. Thanks again Brick and Nacho for a great dinner . . .we appreciate you taking us out!

I have written before about my fascination with naked old men. Wait. Let me start that again. What I MEAN is that I have written before about how I find it so fascinating and strange that old men seem to walk around gym locker rooms so unabashedly--I think that men, over 60, at gyms and pools, are at their most comfortable when they are naked and in groups. Today was no different. Because of the snow day today, I hit the pool early this morning ("no school" was called before it even STARTED snowing!). The pool was, essentially, a geriatric stew of sorts, and I was "spoken to" by a couple of very large women for trying to "swim" while they frolicked around and talked about Oprah and how big their underwear was . . .but that is a different story.

What was really unusual was a conversation I had with a guy in the hot tub (I was feeling pretty sore, so I took a 10 minute soak after my workout). This conversation continued from the hot tub to the locker room to the shower to the front door of the fitness center. As I write this, I realize how ridiculous this whole situation sounds . . .but it was one of the best conversations I've had in a long time . . .and I didnt even know the guy (his name was Jerry I found out). Jerry was an older gentleman with a ton of tattoos--sort of a harbinger of what my generation will one day look like when 80 year old women have "tramp stamps" and guys have "barbed wire" etchings around their saggy triceps. Jerry's tattoos were interesting: two "silver stars" tattooed on each breast. A few inches above each silver star was a "star of David" (a Jewish star). On the top of each shoulder he had what looked like Japanese writing, and under the inscription on the left shoulder, was some sort of Army insignia--probably of his squadron or platoon.

Jerry served in WWII, and he won TWO silver stars "doing what anybody would do in that situation," as he said (the silver star is one of the highest military honors for valor you can win--I think its right under the Congressional Medal of Honor). He got the two stars of David after he witnessed firsthand the devastation of the Nazi concentration camps, and he felt compelled to honor the Jewish people by always "keeping them with him." He didnt say what the Japanese writing "said," but he did tell me that he got the tattoos as a way to deal with the further devastation he felt when WWII ended in the Pacific Theater after we bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki--hence the two inscriptions. Again, he said, it was a way for him to show his respect to the decimated enemy.

I guess what I found so amazing about this guy was how, amidst all that he could talk about, he was interested in me. He told me he enjoyed watching me swim because he so rarely sees "young people" with "so much heart and discipline." He should spend some more time with me . . ha ha. But also, he seemed just as impressed with me as I was with him when he found out how I was an English teacher. He thought teaching was just about the most noble thing anyone could do, he said, and some of his greatest regrets were the fact that he didnt pay attention in English class as a kid, and the fact that he never learned to write "beautifully" in cursive.

I could ramble on here, but it was just such an usual meeting at the pool today. I think the funniest part was when he had me "proofread" a letter he was sending to a furniture store; I guess this furniture store built a special rocking chair for his daughter in law and his new grandson, and he wanted to express his thanks through a letter. I guess the thing I am most wondering about is why he had the letter with him in the first place???