OT, NA and Regret

They were a pleasant-looking couple of a certain age, who happened to stop by my market stall to watch me spin for a while this morning. It was a beautiful, near-80-degree day, and we were all just loving it. I leaned back from my spinning wheel and stopped treadling long enough to smile, inhale some of the beautiful air, and say "Good morning!"

He smiled and made small pleasantries, but then just seemed to want to watch the process, so I started in again: treadle, pinch, lengthen, waaaay out there, wait...wait... wind on. He said that they had recently moved from Los Angeles to San Diego, and I asked him how he felt the two cities compared.

That was when she interjected that they hadn't actually move from Los Angeles, that they had long since moved out to "the (San Fernando) Valley".

"Too many blacks," she confided with an almost-conspiratorial air, sniffing and wrinkling her nose as though still offended at the thought.

My mind stalled. I wanted to say "My gods! You don't look like a bigot!? How are you ever managing to deal with our new president?"

But nothing came out. Instead, I just started in again: treadle, pinch, lengthen, waaaay out there, wait...wait... wind on.