On my daily commute, the bike runs parallel to the road for a stretch. I pass dozens of walkers and riders, many of whom have a routine, just as I do. Soon after I began this route, I recognized a pair of people, a man and a woman probably 10 years younger than me, who walk south regularly on the path at the same time I am driving north on most days. Sometimes they hold hands, sometimes they simply walk side by side. And almost all the time, they seem engaged with one another, talking earnestly as they travel the trail.
Curious about them, their motivation, their story, I pulled over impulsively one morning, and approached them as they neared my vehicle. I was smiling and excited, as if I knew them already, as if I were greeting friends.
"Hi!" I called out, waving. They stopped, clearly wondering what was up. "I see you every morning," I babbled on. "Why do you walk every day? How far do you go?" I also had other questions I wanted to ask, such as: Do you live around here? Where do you work? What is your relationship with each other? I waited expectantly.
They didn't answer.
Well, actually, the woman tried to answer, but she doesn't speak English. Neither does the man. Flustered, I tried my miniscule Spanish. Then I resorted to gestures - hands on an imaginary steering wheel, swinging side to side in the air. Fingers, after pointing at them, simulating people walking. I continued my mix of stilted English and rudimentary Spanish, to tell them that, in essence, I wanted to be friends.
They got it. They smiled and nodded their heads, and we both continued on our ways. I was a bit disappointed that I didn't know all about them, but also exhilarated to have made the connection anyway.
After that, I watched for them every morning with renewed interest. When I began going an hour earlier as summer began, I noticed that they were also out earlier, perhaps because of the longer days. If I didn't see them for a few days, though, I began to fret. What's going on? Are they OK? And I was always relieved to see them again, at a different time of morning, or on another part of the trail.
And I wondered, when I was away on vacation for a week, did they speculate about me? Were they scanning the road for my vehicle, just as I watched for them? Did they miss our daily connection?
Now, as fall approaches, with its cooler mornings and shorter days, we see each other every day. Sometimes they see me first, sometimes I spot them. We all wave and smile - big grins of recognition and delight - as we turn our heads to watch each other pass.
I don't know about you, but I'm feeling a bit disconnected during this election season, where so much of the rhetoric and the activities are designed to drive us further apart, rather than to bring us together. But each weekday morning, I find that this strange, warm and wonderful human connection is the best way to start my day.
from Lakewood Sentinel - Latest Stories http://lakewoodsentinel.comhttp://lakewoodsentinel.com/stories/The-warmth-of-human-connection,236031?branding=15
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