... an occasional series,
vignettes, each of which isn’t of much consequence alone and which together still
don’t have much substance, but whose compilation satisfies a craving for taxonomic
orderliness.
A Dog-Powered Recumbent Bike
I’m sitting on one of my
benches, and here comes a recumbent bike being pulled by a black cocker spaniel
on a leash, a heavyset man sitting regally in the seat.
They go by pretty fast, the dog
looking eager enough. They come around the circular path that surrounds the
greenbelt and bench a second time, and they’re still going along at a pretty
smart clip. I start to wonder if that fat guy is taking advantage of the dog. He
doesn’t even have to pedal; the dog is doing all the work.
It’s alright. They come around
the third time and the dog in in the guy’s lap, getting the free ride this
time.
Family
An elderly parent/dutiful child
going by on the footpath. You can always tell; they’re together, but a little
apart. This time it’s a father, probably in his late 80s, and a son probably
late 50s or early 60s.
The son watches the older man,
who walks very slowly and with an occasional wobble. The older man wears what
look like Birkenstocks, the sandals popular years ago.
Both men wear shorts, but
shouldn’t. I mean if you’re going to wear baggy shorts, go all the way and do
those great boxy yard-wide English World War II jobs that could have
accommodated an extra person. At least they had style.
There’s no conversation between
the men. Playing parlor psychiatrist I deduce that the son feels imposed upon
to have to nursemaid his father, but at the same time guilty because his father
did it for him 50 or 60 years ago.
The old man has run out of
things to say and even things to do and is really just biding his time to the
end. But the weather is fine and it’s good to get out for some son and heir.
As I write, the old man has
wandered a little too far afield and his son, keeping a discreet distance,
trails him. The son is getting a little business done on his cell phone, so the
day isn’t wasted entirely.
