Monday, June 05, 2006

JOURNAL: June 5, 2006

Yesterday, a cloudy and cool one, was a fine day for traveling around town, and I noticed several interesting travelers as I journeyed here and there on my errands. For example, I was driving up the steep hill near my house when I noticed a young man on a bicycle, pedaling furiously up the hill. What was interesting was the fact that his clothes looked ten sizes too big for him. His pants resembled clown pants, and his bulky jacket seemed like it could contain two or three guys his size. Never mind, though; even in his unwieldy clothes, he managed to climb that hill like a superstar cyclist. Later, coming back from a shopping trip, I saw an inspiring sight. A woman who had to be at least 75 was pedaling along on an old-fashioned bicycle, against the traffic and with a heavenly smile on her face. She was sitting up utterly straight and thoroughly enjoying herself as she moved along the busy street. Still later in the day, I passed a woman walking quietly along the sidewalk, carrying a small bundle of a baby in a sack on her back. What was intriguing was that I saw her again at a number of different times over a period of several hours, just slowly ambling along and enjoying the scenery. One time she had stopped and appeared to be studying some bushes in front of a house, and another time she was gazing at an imposing white house by the park. The baby, bobbing along on her back in a light blue baseball cap, seemed to be savoring the walk as much as she was. When I finally finished my errands and was home for the night, I wondered why I hadn’t used my bicycle or my two legs for my travels, instead of my noisy and inefficient car.

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