Remember that stuff that was so popular back in the nineties? We filled baskets with it, tucked it in mason jars, boiled it in sauce pans on the stove. We loved it, but typically, the men in our lives regarded it with questions like, “What’s that smell?”
At least they did in my house. If it smells good but isn’t edible, the fellas around here can’t see the point.
But, I digress. My point is that it’s a “potpourri week” here at BelleView. This week, we’re gathered on the porch and just talking about the news and views and happenings from our little corners of the world.
In my little corner of the world this weekend, I was people watching at a local lake with these guys. Aren’t they cute?
Okay, they may have actually been more interested in fishing than in people watching, but I was watching the people come and go from the marina–including this lady, who became the topic of last night’s people-oriented Facebook post:
Sometimes, people watching has its drawbacks. That was a “Protect the children, Bubba!” moment on the patio, let me tell you! Time stood still for three and a half minutes as everyone wondered… uhhh… are those tan lines… or is that…ummm… fabric…
It made for some interesting conversation around the patio. Every once in a while in life, you find yourself in a whole crowd of people who have suddenly become people watchers. The difference for writers, I guess, is that we’re always people watching. We can’t help it.
Most writers are fascinated with people. We like to watch them, study them, create them in fictional form, and imagine their stories. People often ask me if my characters are based on real people. One of these days, that scene with the lake lady in the flesh-colored bikini is bound to make it into a book.
Many of the characters in my books are inspired by people I’ve met, and sometimes by people I’ve only crossed paths with for a moment or two. I snapped a picture of these three gents walking through
Selby Gardens while I was on a book tour in Florida. They were strolling along a path, doing something we don’t take the time to do so much anymore–enjoying a beautiful day and a stimulating conversation. As a writer, you find yourself imagining the lives of people you happen across. It’s all fodder for a story.
In this particular case, I didn’t have to imagine for very long. Shortly after I snapped the pic, I ran across the man in the blue and the man with the cane sitting on a park bench together. They asked if I would use their camera to take a picture of the two of them. They were a father and son (can you see the resemblance now?) spending the afternoon together, celebrating a birthday. The affection between them was sweet and evident, a lifelong love that was unmistakable, even to a casual observer. I couldn’t help thinking that this is the kind of relationship God intends fathers and sons to have. Some people watching moments are so sweetly profound.
Every so often, there are those instants when not even a sprinkle of fiction is necessary. Sometimes life is pretty amazing all on its own, and the real story is even better than the one you would’ve made up.
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