His buffalo plaid flannel shirt was neatly tucked into his Sears Work ‘N’ Wear Kahkis. His wife had pressed his pants with a knife-sharp edge.
He’s of the generation where jeans are for work. In fact, he doesn’t even call them jeans, he calls them dungarees. He doesn’t often wear them in public, but today is a work day.
His ball cap sat high on his head. He doesn’t wear the new low-profile cap that the younger guys wear. He wears a proper high-crowned baseball cap as a tool to shade his eyes, not as a fashion statement.
He was lugging a gas can. The gas is for the lawn mower that he’s getting ready to fire up for the start of the mowing season.
He was shuffling across the alley, having made it safely through the busy intersection. (Picture Tim Conway’s shuffle when he was pretending to be an old man.)
His generation thinks Earth Day is for sissies. Trees are for cutting. Grass is for mowing. Garbage cans are for tin cans and newspapers. “Who has time to save the Earth when I’ve got to mow the lawn and wash the car.”
I imagine the drivers in the vehicles stopped at the intersection were marveling at how slow the man walked. ” For God’s sake, man, drive your car to get the gas next time. Get the job done. It doesn’t need to take all day.”
There was the faintest shade of light green above his head where the trees were just leafing out. The grass hasn’t even had a chance to get long. The sun and moisture are being sent to broaden the leaf stalks. There’s not been enough time to send energy to creating length.
Still, by the time he gets back to his yard, it’ll be long enough.
I was one of the drivers stopped at the intersection. I was in the middle of a mad dash of getting groceries, stopping at Target, and crossing things off the to-do list while Jen and Will were in their one-hour art class.
Watching him shuffle forced me to take a breath. He was the embodiment of “Take time to smell the roses.” I worried about how heavy the gas can was getting. It had to be getting heavier with each shuffle.
When he got to the other side of the alley, he stopped. I assumed he would set the can down to take a breather.
As I waited for the light to change, I wondered, “Well why didn’t you drive? It’s too far to lug that can when you’re as old as you are. Make your life easier, dammit.”
Just as the light changed, I saw him stoop over to pick up an empty water bottle some teenager had mindlessly tossed onto the grass. He adjusted his grip on the gas can, tucked the bottle under his arm and continued his shuffle.
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Tags: life, love, survive, the power in writing
You do have a way of making images crystal clear. Remember Grandpa and jeans? No way, man.
I was thinking about Grandpa Hat when I wrote this.
Good Story!!!
Hey,
Thanks, Pegga.
I miss chatting with you. ;)
This reminded me of my late grandfather a bit. But most of all, it furthered my belief that you are a kindred spirit who sees the stories behind people. Thank you for sharing his story.
Meredith,
Thanks for writing. And isn’t that the sweetener in life? The stories behind people?
I love how you’ve carved this story!
Who is Tim Conway? Lol…gotcha! Those not much younger than me don’t know. It is sad because I believe that was end of the best comedy era.
Those stories, even about those that you don’t like so much, are what makes you sweeter than most. Hope you had a good weekend! :)
Christina,
Nice to see you here again. ;)
Thanks Jesse! My codez broke and then I cried and then I fixed them and then I smiled. So I DO have alot of catching up to do on your blog. I hope you had a great earth day!
Z,
My two know about Conway cuz of their grandpa. Amazingly enough, they were watching Wizards of Waverly Place the other night, and Conway was on there. I’m sure most of the generation that watches that show is clueless about his comic talent.
The weather here was stellar this weekend. We wore ourselves out… in a good way.
I hope you enjoyed yours, too.
Christina,
We had the best kind of Earth Day. We were outside all day long … smelling the blooming and listening to the birds and feeling the warmth of the sun and marveling at how, just when we need it the most, Spring brightens our moods as she colors the Earth.
Glad you fixed your codez. p.s. What is that? ;)