When I am an Old Lady.....

There's a part of me that can't wait to be a shuffling, hunched-over old lady with gray hair frizzing out from fuchsia and orange scarves, a rainbow lizard earring dangling from one ear and a silver turtle from the other. I'll shuffle through the city streets in flannel pajamas with cat socks and frog slippers. Strands of necklaces made from seeds and a vintage 2008 Canon Rebel hanging around my neck.

I'll point my camera at whomever I see and shoot without asking, for I will be a harmless old lady, the one who carries fresh cat nip in her pockets. The toothless men will give me their grins, black men will give me their faces, they won't be disturbed at my presence or wonder why, the children will twirl and run through sprinklers, dancing in the grass and showing me their candied purple tongues. I'll pull spider rings and super balls out of my pockets to give them. The Mexican women will invite me into their kitchens and show me their tattoos. Their men will show me their oil-stained hands and old scars. Hmong mothers will hold their grandchildren up to me and give me fresh vegetables from their gardens. I'll snap my camera at their clean laundry on the line, the honeysuckle bushes, the garden hose, the junk garage. I won't be afraid to shoot, like I am now.

I'll say things like, "Oh, I remember back when we elected President Obama. I was in a cabin in Terlingua, Texas with no radio or T.V."