{"id":769,"date":"2012-04-07T22:58:56","date_gmt":"2012-04-08T02:58:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/?p=769"},"modified":"2024-12-03T16:49:10","modified_gmt":"2024-12-03T21:49:10","slug":"conversation-on-a-bench","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/?p=769","title":{"rendered":"Conversation on a Bench"},"content":{"rendered":"

Linda Burton posting from Sacramento, California<\/em> \u2013 \u201cIt was on my Bucket List,\u201d Jo-Ellen answered to my question. \u201cThat\u2019s why I\u2019m here today. There were things to do at home but then I told myself \u2018This stuff will still be here tomorrow. The Promenade is now.\u2019 So here I am.\u201d I nodded, completely understanding what she meant.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The straw-hat match was the first thing that connected us, women all around were dressed in period style; long hoop skirts, gloves made of lace, bonnets decked with flowers; in our street attire we were a little out of place. I saw her sitting on a bench, and pointed to her hat, then mine. \u201cMy other hat\u2019s a bonnet,\u201d I laughed. \u201cMine too,\u201d she said, and we began to chat.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>We talked almost an hour, sitting in the sun, while all around us it was 1867. We were in Old Sacramento, surrounded by the Easter Bonnet Promenade. Men passed by with a distinguished air, sporting frock coats and watch-fobbed vests; women twirled their dainty parasols, little girls wore floral-printed dresses covering drawstringed cotton underdrawers; authentic reproductions drawn up from the past; docents living history; an annual event sponsored by the Historic Old Sacramento Foundation. http:\/\/www.historicoldsac.org\/shm.asp<\/a><\/p>\n

We had much in common, my new friend and I; we\u2019d raised three children on our own, lived north and south, had a Bucket List. \u201cYou have to plan for it,\u201d Jo-Ellen said, \u201cyou have to make it happen, otherwise, the time is lost.\u201d We talked about our dreams, a ranch in Mexico, a castle in the hills, a carriage ride in Central Park, Fiji and Antarctica. We talked of holding children close in heart, our own, and theirs, and children everywhere; by example proving you can set your course and follow it.<\/p>\n

I guess we\u2019d be there talking still, but the sun was hot, and there were sights to see, more surprises to be found. \u201cGood luck with your travels,\u201d I said, giving her a farewell hug. \u201cGood luck to you with yours,\u201d she answered back. \u201cI hope you make it everywhere you want to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Two hours of wandering cobbled streets, time warped between the boardwalk days of then and now; strollers packed with little ones and shopping bags; kids hypered up on lollipops; couples hand by hand; music in the park. I lunched deckside over river\u2019s edge, a pigeon watching every move, waiting for a crumb to drop. Then it was time to go.<\/p>\n

\u201cIs that your capital cities car?\u201d the garage attendant called as I stepped into cooling shadows where I\u2019d parked.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>I affirmed it was, asked him what he thought. \u201cI\u2019ve been standing at the back of it, looking at the cities on the map, thinking where I\u2019ve been and where I want to go,\u201d he answered. \u201cA person needs to get out in the world, you know?\u201d<\/p>\n

I know.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Linda Burton posting from Sacramento, California \u2013 \u201cIt was on my Bucket List,\u201d Jo-Ellen answered to my question. \u201cThat\u2019s why I\u2019m here today. There were things to do at home but then I told myself \u2018This stuff will still be here tomorrow. The Promenade is now.\u2019 So here I am.\u201d I nodded, completely understanding what […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4586,194],"tags":[244,242,245,223,239,243,240,241,219],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/769"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=769"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/769\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27218,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/769\/revisions\/27218"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=769"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=769"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=769"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}