Throughout the school year we were in a fairly predictable schedule: school, sports classes, weekly play groups. Now that we’re settling into these lazy summer days, I got to thinking about the familiar strangers that we saw daily for 10 months and don’t see any more.
There is the woman with the Golden Retriever puppy named Amber (the dog, not the woman). We passed her every day after dropping off at school. Farley would give Amber (again the dog not the woman) a sniff before they carried on with their walk and we headed home.
Then there is the man in his sixties heading to the bus in the morning. He was always dressed in a pressed suit and a fedora, ready with a smile as we passed him on the hill. He looked like he’d just walked off a 1950s billboard for some new suburban development – classy, distinguished, timeless.
We’d also pass the grandfather whose grandkids go to Carmen’s school. He was much more organized than us so he’d greet us with a ‘good morning’ on his way home as we were rushing to get there before the bell. We were early one day and he panicked a little as we passed by on our way home. He checked with us to make sure he wasn’t late. I’m sure it never occurred to him that we could be on the ball enough to be on time!
So to all the men and women we nod to on the street, make room on the sidewalk for their dogs and bikes as they do the same for ours, and see during the Tuesday morning grocery shop, you may be out of sight but not too far out of mind. We’ll see you again in September –same time same place!
