Concord Mall Jellyfish

Concord Mall is a gigantic shopping Mecca in Concord, North Carolina. Within the mall, there is an impressive aquarium filled with "thousands" of amazing creatures. We'd heard about this place but had never been there before.

Among the most "amazing" of the creatures are the jelly fish. 

Every time I come upon a collection of jellys I can't believe how weird they are. They continually change shape. I always get the feeling that I've arrived just  in time to see the miraculous changes. If I have my camera, I feel as if I've hit upon a once in a lifetime opportunity. I start clicking away. With every click, I am sure that I have captured a moment that can never be captured again. Then I click some more.

Somewhwere along the line, my wife will tap me on the shoulder and remind me to move along because they're just jellyfish....basically organized water "waiting to sting somebody." 

This makes me realize that I'm not seeing anything spectacular. Jellyfish have been doing their "amazing" jelly fish thing every minute of every day for century upon century. The hammerhead in the adjoining tank has been cruising around for years. The octopus in her garden get's fed every day at 2:15 when she plays with her Mr. Potato head doll. Everything is doing what they always do, except me. I'm doing something that I rarely do. What is commonplace has become "amazing".

We step out of the aquarium and start to walk the mall. We are amongst thousands of amazing creatures as we get into the flow, the current of the walk. We stop in to grab some fudge. I spot a candy maker who has put out an "amazing" display of chocolate. I take the picture of the display. The candy maker understands that although she sees this display over and over every day to the point of tedium, I"m seeing this for the first time. She gives me permission to use my camera which embarrases my wife who wonders why I'm taking pictures of candy.

We leave the chocolate garden and continue our swim through the mall, organized water that we are. It's a scorching day at the end of July. I walk past two young women. One of the women is wearing an amazing pair of thigh high boots with 4 inch heels.

I wonder as she walks by, what in the world crossed her mind as she was heading to the mall that day. "I think I'll just throw on these boots, what the hell". I imagine her showing up at her girlfriend's house an hour earlier. I imagine the girlfriend asking "what's up with those boots. We're going to a mall. We're gonna be walking a mile. Everybody in the place is gonna be wonderin' what the heck you're doin"

As we continue our swim, we pass all kinds of amazing creatures...all going somewhere for some reason.

This happens every day at the mall

Just like the jellies.

Some of the folks are dangerous.

Pretty sure some are carrying guns

I'm not gonna take any pictures of anybody.

Nobody wants to see pictures of people walking around a mall.

It's what everybody does every day at Concord Mall.