Interesting People

One portion of my drive home tonight was filled with momentary interactions with interesting people. Well, they weren’t really interactions. How isolated we are in our cars as we zoom along at 50 miles per hour! Interesting scenes, then, but more than that, too . . .
On the corner of Lafayette Road and 56th Street, an older couple walking a dog waited for the light to change so they could cross. Intriguingly, the man was in a white shirt and tie, and the woman was in a dress. The dog was in a collar. The tie had bright colors, and made me think of the bright-colored, stick-figure-drawn-by-kids-with-crayons ties Judge Jim Payne (of juvenile court) used to wear. Maybe he still does. The couple seemed somewhat out of place, and I couldn’t figure out how they got there (or where they were going) in their nice dress clothes. The dog’s name was Bowser. At least that’s what it should be.
Going beyond I-65 and nearing Eagle Creek Park, a couple was walking with their toddler. Dad was holding the child’s hand and pointing to the woman. Mom was waving in an exaggerated fashion, apparently urging the child on toward her. Not only was it cute, but it made me think – we could be doing the same thing a year from now!
As I crossed I-465 and descended the overpass, another couple appeared to be studying a handheld device. Surely they weren’t lost? It almost looked like the global position device hikers use. Or maybe they were texting a message to a friend?
Another couple was walking their dog. The dog was a boxer, apparently not quite full grown. The girl’s hair was windblown, but the wind wasn’t blowing hard, so I think they had been running. She was handing the leash to the guy, so I think they were taking turns walking/running the dog. I know how hard it is to walk a young dog, let alone run with it; if theirs is anything like Pippi, it keeps trying to go its own way.
A cyclist, pedaling hard, passed me going the opposite way. He was silhouetted against the sun reflecting off the reservoir. In my imagination he was training for a race, perhaps even the Tour. How I would like to have been in his shoes!
I saw my first sailboat of the season on the reservoir. What a delight to be driven by the wind on nearly calm waters, enjoying the sunshine on this beautiful spring day!
Sitting next to the now-closed gate by the cemetery, a man sat in the sun. Was that a fishing pole by his side? Perhaps; I couldn’t tell as I flashed by.
Almost to Raceway Road, a minivan passed. You would have thought there were two people inside by the forms I saw inside, except for the long, wagging tale behind one of them. One person and a dog, I realized, laughing. Now if that were Pippi, she would have her head out the window, too!