Saturday
Aug072010
waving
August 7, 2010 
“You don't really understand human nature unless you know why a child on a merry-go-round will wave at his parents every time around
- and why his parents will always wave back.” William D. Tammeus
I posted this photo of Andy and Charley giving me a wave over at the soeurs du jour the other day.
I don’t know about you but where we live in the city, no one waves. Sure every now and then you get a nod, sometimes even a smile and if you are really lucky you may be the lucky recipient of a hand lift. It always amazes me when I go back to the city that no one waves.
Up at the cottage, sitting on the dock, my arm is flapping like a flag on Canada Day. Everyone waves. The couple in the canoe, they waves, the family in the speedboat, they all wave, the kids wakeboarding always wave so that you will notice them and the fisherman breaks his meditation and he waves too. Even the little girls riding the tube wave in a panicky way while they hold on for dear life with the other hand.
Don’t get me wrong, I like to wave first sometimes. So I wonder why I never wave at home? What's different? Is it because we don't have time to wave and if that's true, what the heck, how long does it take to wave??
Waving is a one love thing. It screams "we're having a good time and we hope you are too!" We often laugh when we see another couple about the same age as us reading on their dock. Inevitably they lift their eyes at the sound of the motor and give us that very special wave of understanding, acknowledging how lucky we are to be in the same moment on a beautiful lake.
So just move your arm freely back and forth or up and down in the air, as if it were a branch in the wind. Now didn’t that feel good?
Reader Comments (14)
This makes me feel giddy with joy, Margie, for some reason. How can you be mad/angry when you wave your hand at someone! It's a gesture that packs a wallop...and even Charley understands it (assuming he's the dog :) ). Actually, I had tears in my eyes when I got to the end...that feeling of longing when you miss it. I know what you mean.
At our family cottage in Michigan the same thing happens out on the beachfront/dock--we wave at everyone going by and they to us, whether we know them or not. It's starting to happen now here at our senior complex as we get to know the residents. But I miss it when it doesn't happen. I think I'll just wave at everyone, whether I know them or not, and start a trend here. :)
Hey Margie....you get a good taste of that if you spend any time in the South. Ginnie is right, you miss it when you're in a place that it doesn't happen. My favorite, that I remember with my Dad, is the one finger lift from the wheel of a passing pick up truck....but moving your arm freely back & forth does feel good....thanks for the post & photo, real nice.
No, nobody waves over here, except motorcyclists on the free way to eachother, love the picture
I love this picture ... I love how Andy is waving at you but it looks like he is telling Charley to wave too! We do the unfurling of the fingers from the steering wheel at farm workers. Fleeting but an acknowledgment of their hard work. Great post my sister. One Love.
When I lived in Nebraska, everyone waved at each other, regardless of whether you knew them or not. If you were out working in your yard, you had to stop to wave at whoever was driving by. If you lived on a busy street, it was really hard to get any work done. :) Now that I live in Washington, hardly anyone waves, unless you are friends and most of the time even they don't wave. I love driving through our farm (where I work - don't own), because everyone waves at me. It makes me smile. I wish Washington was more like Nebraska.
We're big wavers here in NC, and most of the waves are accompanied by a hearty, "Hey, how're you?"
Must be a very old tradition. I remember waving as a child at people in a horse and buggy going past our farm. I still wave goodbye to anyone visiting me. Keep waving it is a nice gesture. Mom
I never thought of this! But now that I am, the only time I seem to wave is to say goodbye - well, except for the little wave of thanks that almost everybody gives another driver who pulls to the side of the narrow roads around here, to let traffic pass.
I'm going to be waving more often, because of this post, Marcie. Quite delightful!
We're always waving here in the Cornish village where I live. In fact you can recognize the 'city folk' because they never wave and always expect YOU to back up when you meet head on and the lane is too small for two cars to pass side by side.
No one waves in Atlanta where I'm from ... oh they may have a hand gesture for you, but there's nothing friendly about it.
I'm doing it now!
This makes me think of when I run... it is just a path that is not well-traveled, and I am always surprised that some people, when they pass me, won't say hello, won't even look at me. How hard is it to simply say "Hi"? But I always say hi to them, even if they don't respond, and today, I will make sure to wave if I see someone...
P.S. I forgot to say how much I LOVE this photo!
i think of the ways that i wave - usually in the car on my way to and from the nomad office; i think i'm quite an effusive waver :) - i'm certainly not the 'lift one finger up off the steering wheel' type...so don't like that. there is that particular wave that the british royal family use, their speciality...so much so it's remarked on.
I only wave goodbye I think. Love your image!