varying degrees of light

A moment. Thursday, Paul driving the Passat down Hwy 1 back towards Langley. Having had picked up Christina from work, and abandoning the Buick from where it stood in the parking lot, after a tantrum and shutdown with the engine (and the brakes, then the ignition and...), we sped back to Ralph's, a semi-outdoor produce place, before they closed. We were hungry, Stina had a big day, and we wanted to get groceries so we could make Mexican food for dinner and relax together into the evening.

I sat in the back, staring straight ahead and occasionally sipping my carbonated lychee drink. They softly chatted and talked out their day, and current decisions - small as they were - to each other. Paul offered Christina a sip of his drink each time before he took one for himself. He wore jeans and a t shirt, both dirty from having had worked construction in the morning and staining the deck. She in greys and blacks with her hair partially up in elegant swoops. The sun was on its way down, and I looked at the empty seats next to me, the landscape flying by, and two good friends of mine, trying to imagine, and hang on to, what we must be right now, in a moment. One college grad, working an actual job. Two students - graphic design and writing - entering their senior year. A week ago, the border patrol asked us how it was we all went to the same school when we were from Langley, LA and Iowa. I guess I've been turning that question over in my head since we drove away, baffled at how we were supposed to answer.

"After this week, the next time I'll be riding in a car with you two up front... your kids will be here. Your firstborn will be named Quincy."

They did laugh, and went along with the premonition, which is great (because the premonition is great) and I wondered if it would be true and, if it will, how accurate it will be.

(Their next kid will be named Alvin.)

Because in a little more than a week, I'll be back in Iowa and the semester will start, and end, much sooner than we will be ready for it. Friends will go for their semester away, others will come back for their last, and we will all still be adjusting to having the '09 class gone. And who are all these little kids running around? Paul will follow a few days after. Christina will stay and work and continue to seek out jobs with better pay and more to offer in the motivation department.

Yikes. I just freaked myself out. Again.