is this what it will be like?

the baron has been trying to muster up some enthusiasm for the people she and baby x meet at the park: other children, usually a little older than baby x, and parents.

it's no secret that the baron is happiest either alone or with her immediate family.  it's also no secret that small talk is not something that comes naturally or easily to her.  so giving good face at the park is a task that she'd rather not do... but as the weather improves, as it has in the last week, the baron finds herself faced with other parents a lot.  a whole lot.

if she were alone, or with someone other than baby x - who has recently refashioned himself as Mr. Staring McLookatme - the baron would keep to herself.  it's awkward, though, to ignore people when baby x is SO OBVIOUSLY STARING AT THEM and otherwise trying to draw as much attention to himself as possible.  tentative and painful conversation between the baron and the play ground parents usually follows.

this past week, the baron met a woman who's house caught fire christmas eve, and who wanted to enroll her child in a foreign language immersion program.  and a woman who suffered some kind of verbal aphasia that made it impossible BUT IMPOSSIBLE for her to remember the baron and baby x's names EVEN AS THE BARON SPOKE THEM.  and a woman who sat on a bench with her face covered by her hands, removing them only to yell 'no! no!' at her golden retriever while her husband and children played on the merry-go-round.

you, reader, must be wondering how the baron is able to navigate her life, given the fact that there are PEOPLE EVERYWHERE.  mirrored aviators, reader.  they're amazing.