Strangeness

 by James

Clara had a palate expander installed this week. It was an uncomfortable experience for her, but she was very brave and very kind to the strange Albanians that chattered away in a strange language as they reached their hands into her mouth and did strange things that she didn't understand and didn't want to have happen.

I went with her today in the rain so they could spend 30 seconds showing me how to use the key to adjust her mouth every night. I was overcharged for a taxi by a driver that laughed at me as he took my money. Clara was uncomfortable and unhappy, so as a treat to both of us we went for lunch at a Chinese food restaurant.

The lights and heat were off inside and the owner was frantically trying to get them to come back on but he assured us that the kitchen was still open. So, we sat together in the dark, wearing coats, watching the rain fall outside the window.

An Asian family came in behind us and the owner apologized and shooed them away. "Our cook has the day off today, because of Chinese New Year," he said. And they sadly left. I can only assume they were regular customers and he knew they wanted an authentic experience. We on the other hand are most relaxed when things are as strange as possible. Confusion has become a state of "home" for us. If we know what is happening, we tend to feel a bit lost and uneasy. "Something must be wrong, why do I understand what is happening?" and we start watching for the nonsense to ambush us. It is much more peaceful to face the nonsense head-on, grapple it by the shoulder, look it in the eyes, swim in it like an ocean.

So, we shared a large bowl of lo-mein noodle soup (which they call "macaroni") and an order of wontons (which they call "Tortellini") and we talked about life and how weird it is and wonderful it is to experience weird, to rest your head on Weird like a pillow and to sleep on Weird like a couch and to watch Weird like your favorite TV show.

While we were discussing these things, this song came on the stereo, which thankfully was the one thing in the room that still had power.

And it felt right. It felt real. It felt normal. It felt weird.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5V6vvm0WIHI