The Wave

All day I was bothered, trying to recall something I thought of as I left home this morning that would make a postable piece...I was pretty clear about what I accomplished on the Yin side, but what was it I was thinking? Like a dream that vanishes on awakening; was it lost forever in the deepest recesses of my mind? I need a dictaphone in my car. Or I guess I could send myself voicemail; I have a friend who does that all the time.

Then coming back home, driving into my complex it came to me when a local guy who appears to be cultivating a Qing Dynasty queue walking his red dog with the funny ears waved at me. That was it. Handwaving. (Not the wave that was probably an element in the audience at the Superbowl.)

This morning, as I was leaving the complex, a series of neighbors, some walking dogs, one waiting in the parking lot on her scooter chair for a ride, all waved at me. I hadn't greeted so many people so sequentially ever. I felt like a beauty queen greeting her subjects, like Miss Hawaii (left) in the Chinatown Chinese New Year Parade. I can understand why that waving can cause tendinitis or tennis elbow.

But it left me with a positive feeling. I didn't need to TALK to any of these folks, just smiling and waving acknowledgment of a nice morning was sufficient communication. Maybe a little simple and primitive, but it conveyed all the good will in the world.

Which got me thinking about handwaving. I looked it up on Wikipedia, fingertip font of all knowledge, and found:

...handwaving is an informal term that describes either the debate technique of failing to rigorously address an argument in an attempt to bypass the argument altogether, or a deliberate gesture and admission that one is intentionally glossing over detail for the sake of time or clarity.

I certainly wasn't engaged in any debate, but "glossing over detail for the sake of time or clarity." Yes, I suppose that's it. And maybe just that loving-kindness thing.