I want to go to the movies!

Last night was our second anniversary. My family had finally all left around four in the afternoon. We sort of had a date earlier in the day. My brother dropped us off at our canoe that had been stranded from high winds the day before. We paddled across Lake of the Isles and Lake Calhoun. My family was going to meet us at Lake Calhoun to go for a walk. We have wheels we put under the canoe so we can walk with it. Walking the canoe is amazingly similar to walking a dog. You just pull lightly and it follows, you watch that it is crossing the street and still behind you. As soon as we crossed the bridge to Lake Calhoun I knew we should have circled Lake of the Isle's a few times. The wind was too strong and we were making really good time. It was like the wind had a hand under our canoe and was pushing us towards our waiting family.
That was our date.
Once everyone left we were exhausted. Completely tired out. Family sprawled across your home, each on a cell phone or a lap top, their foreign debris scattered about, extra beds filling up what are normally common spaces, it is not something you recover from with sleep. We did not know what to do so we set out for St. Paul with Byrd. We went to the Hmong Market Place: http://www.hmongtownmarketplace.com/
http://www.minnesotamonthly.com/media/Minnesota-Monthly/June-2009/Capital-Grills/
http://www.citypages.com/2008-05-28/restaurants/hmong-market-is-a-rare-food-adventure/

We were in search of ribs and giddy with the freedom of the family now gone. In the car I could not stop thinking that I wanted to go to a movie. I wanted to veg out. After the long couple of weeks of different family members visiting I could not stay at home any longer (the worst part of the family visit was being trapped in the house with them or in the back of the house while they slept or were up late). I wanted to be out and I wanted to just completely let go. For a moment I came up with a plan that I would first take off and go see an early movie by myself. There is no question that Byrd in the movies is a terrible idea. So first I go, then Robin could go by himself afterwards. Robin suggested I go to a movie with a friend this week, but if I have the chance to socialize why sit in a dark movie?! I have never been to the movies alone. But there is something so delicious now about alone time.

Robin, Byrd, and I explored the Hmong market. The highlight was watching the green papaya salad making. Two women stand side-by-side, each has a gallon size wood mortar and pestle. They slice tomatoes and long beans into the mortar, they squeeze limes, they spoon sugar and salt and tamarind sauce and a thicker goopier brown sauce into the mortar. They throw in handfulls of dried peppers. There is a crowd around this stand though the rest of the market is empty. I feel tall. The group of Hmong women come to my shoulder. Byrd sucks the edge of a cold plastic bubble tea cup. The women pound away. I want to ask someone for directions, I want to ask what the difference between Thai and Laos salad is. I want to ask about the amazing ribs I have heard of (I only see congealed meat, some of it clearly innards floating in thick greasy broth). Part of me hesitates to ask because the place feels so foreign I feel that no one speaks english. I know most everyone here speaks english, but it feels like they dont. I hesitate to ask because it feels like we have intruded with our pale skin and height to this market community. I hesitate to ask because there is something so rude about gaining entertainment by walking into someone else's different but interesting world. So we stand and watch batch after batch. When the crowd has thinned and we are up I stumble, unsure what minimal words I need to say. Medium spicy, Laos style. I watch her scoop and cut and squeeze and pound. The woman hands me a forkful, I taste and approve of the salad, like it is a wine. I love this most about the experience. Tasting and approving. The interaction with the cooks. The sense of inclusion in the experience.
We take our salad to the cathedral and look out over Saint Paul. Byrd crawls around us and over us. We talk and laugh and feel good and free. The air is cool and the coolness is a great relief. At the end of the night I feel content. Robin is everything I want in a partner. I am so glad we decided to have Byrd and not wait for some more opportune time when we have more money, more career stability, more adultness. And in the car on the way home I still harbor this secret desire to be sitting alone in a crowd in the dark of a theatre. What stangeness there is to our hearts and souls. How do you recapture exhaustion? I am going to check movie listings.