{"id":163,"date":"2016-04-12T04:34:07","date_gmt":"2016-04-12T08:34:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/glendakotchish.com\/dir\/?page_id=163"},"modified":"2021-04-03T09:15:39","modified_gmt":"2021-04-03T13:15:39","slug":"time-and-space","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/glendakotchish.com\/dir\/stories\/time-and-space\/","title":{"rendered":"Time and Space"},"content":{"rendered":"

Once upon a time had changed into time and space. \u00a0\u00a0Somewhere, sometime, something had jumped from then to now–not just something–everything. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

She sat in the coffee shop thinking this, sipping the decaffeinated brew from a paper cup, decaf because caffeine made her gain weight, or so she was told. \u00a0\u00a0The bagels were stacked in rows, but she refrained because what she needed was some protein, not a carb which also made her gain weight, so she was told. <\/span><\/p>\n

After the doctor\u2019s visit she didn\u2019t go directly home. \u00a0\u00a0The doctor had moved, again. \u00a0\u00a0This time even \u00a0further out in the country or so she thought, <\/span>country<\/span><\/i>. \u00a0\u00a0She pointed the car on the unfamiliar road. \u00a0It was really more suburbs, the suburbs that were spreading, eating up the countryside. \u00a0\u00a0She had to stop for gas. \u00a0\u00a0Finding a gas station wasn\u2019t a problem because with the expanding suburbs came all the accouterments: strip malls, grocery stores, nail salons, chain restaurants, a gym (no a fitness center), \u00a0daycare centers, churches, schools–everything upscale. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0As she drove she discovered more and more subdivisions, huge houses, \u00a0opulent condos with brick entrances and fancy names: \u00a0Wellington Estates, \u00a0Salisbury Terraces, \u00a0Belvidere Crossings, \u00a0The Lake at Lorraine. \u00a0At each turn in the road she was amazed. \u00a0\u00a0Where did all this come from? \u00a0When? \u00a0Who lived here? \u00a0\u00a0Where did they work? \u00a0\u00a0What if the economy bottomed out again, would they get to keep their homes or would the <\/span>for sale signs<\/span><\/i> and f<\/span>oreclosure signs <\/span><\/i>pop up on their lawns. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A sadness descended upon her even though the day was bright and the doctor\u2019s visit had rendered only good news. \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNone of these houses will be mine, \u201c she thought. \u00a0\u201cI will not live here, ever. \u00a0I\u2019ve had my time, made my choices, had the excitement of discovery of new space.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

She sipped her coffee and watched the people come and go. \u00a0\u00a0The lady in jeans and a sweatshirt carrying a bag of bagels out the door. \u00a0\u00a0The older woman, older than herself, in her red parka paying for her cup of tea. \u00a0\u00a0The middle aged woman running the water before putting the courtesy cup under the flow. The man in a dress shirt and tie talking with the woman in a purple sweater and black slacks–looking at portfolios spread on the tabletop. \u00a0Who was in charge? \u00a0\u00a0Who was selling? \u00a0Who was buying? \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What happened to all the shops and haunts of her youth? \u00a0\u00a0When did they tear them down and build something else in their stead? \u00a0Who did that? \u00a0\u00a0She wasn\u2019t a part of this newness. \u00a0\u00a0They had gone ahead without her. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

She had turned her head, for a moment, and in that moment of space and time, missed the next wave. \u00a0A new world had risen around her, before her, behind her, beneath and above her. \u00a0\u00a0She felt a little lost, alone and sad. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

She finished the last of her coffee, gathered her things. \u00a0Time to go. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

She found her car in the parking lot, started it and drove further down the road. \u00a0She drove until the developments disappeared, until she found woods and then the lake shrouded in mist. \u00a0\u00a0She untied a boat, \u00a0seated herself and rowed–disappearing into the fog of time and space. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a9 Glenda Kotchish<\/span><\/p>\n

April 11, 2016<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Photo
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Once upon a time had changed into time and space. \u00a0\u00a0Somewhere, sometime, something had jumped from then to now–not just something–everything. \u00a0 She sat in the coffee shop thinking this, sipping the decaffeinated brew from a paper cup, decaf because caffeine made her gain weight, or so she was told. \u00a0\u00a0The bagels were stacked in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":777,"parent":33,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-163","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/glendakotchish.com\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/163","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/glendakotchish.com\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/glendakotchish.com\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/glendakotchish.com\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/glendakotchish.com\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=163"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/glendakotchish.com\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/163\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":166,"href":"http:\/\/glendakotchish.com\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/163\/revisions\/166"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/glendakotchish.com\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/33"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/glendakotchish.com\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/777"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/glendakotchish.com\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}