When Elena was little, I got to keep her lots more often than I do now. We often went to the zoo, the Botanical Gardens, or the McNay. She always found a tree to climb.
"Big trees with lots of limbs are like grandmothers," she said--an analogy I didn't quite understand but loved.
Last night I had the pleasure of revisiting the very tree where she'd said that. She climbed right up into its branches just as she did years ago.
Inside the museum with Pam's friend Bill, looking at the "Womanish" exhibit, I was amazed at how easily she talked to Bill. He's an excellent listener, as Elena pointed out as we were driving home. "You can tell what a good heart he has," she said. "The way he listened and talked to me."
They talked about her multi-cultural heritage and she translated some Spanish phrases for us. "I'm not completely fluent in Spanish, but I understand most of it." She told him about her large Mexican family from Guadalajara. And they talked about horses. He recommended a memoir by Linda Ronstadt about her two cultures.
She was fascinated by girls in fancy dresses posing for pictures for their quinceañeras.
The event was wonderful--the trees, the art exhibit, the posing girls, people of all ages sitting on the grounds listening to music. One couple did the Texas Two Step, then children emerged from the audience and danced in the totally free and un-self-conscious ways kids dance, feeling the music, not caring if anyone was watching. Without even asking names, children have a way of making instant connections with other kids. And adults. And other people's dogs.
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