The afternoon, which was delightful, turned into an even better evening. For me, the sky was made to order with giant popcorn clouds removing the sting from the sun. When The Commander left for a walk, I decided to join him. Normally, I’d wish him well and wave good-bye without guilt because of my morning miles. But I couldn’t waste today. I reached for my shoes.
As we walked along, some movement caught my eye. A neighbour was fiddling with something on his porch. Vegetation concealed him. As well, he was wearing a cream coloured jacket, matching the pillars on his house almost perfectly. Caught by surprise, I must’ve been staring in his direction a little longer than perfectly appropriate. In an attempt to reduce the discomfort, both his and mine, I waved and said “Good Evening.”
The Commander didn’t see him at all and looked around to determine who I was speaking with. When the man replied to my greeting, The Commander supplemented my “good evening” with his own “Nice Day.” The Commander also attempted to compensate for his greeting’s lateness by putting additional enthusiasm in its delivery.
As we walked along, I noticed The Commander paying a little more attention to his surroundings. Recently, the landscaping people have been busy. It’s lawn aeration time. It seemed like every second lawn was littered with the little plugs of sod left behind from this work. And it’s only with a careful examination that one can distinguish between grass plugs and goose droppings. We don’t take chances.
We watch our step whenever the road isn’t totally clear. So very soon, we’re watching the road and disregarding the houses. Sure enough, I saw another neighbour, waved, and called out an appropriate greeting. Not wishing to repeat his awkwardness, The Commander waved too, only this time, he began instantly. It worked. Our greetings and the resultant replies were timed perfectly. The Commander fooled the neighbour but he didn’t fool me. I could tell that until the neighbour replied, The Commander didn’t have a clue of where the man was. Again, this man was almost totally concealed by shrubbery. The man was bald and there was a gazing ball in his front yard, but I doubt that this misled The Commander, although I found the coincidence amusing.
We soon found ourselves going uphill. A steep uphill. Again, we’re watching the road, but now we’re heading home. And we’re chatting. I noticed that an upcoming house had some great homeowner hiding habitat. I couldn’t resist! I waved and called “Nice Day!” to an empty porch. Sure enough, The Commander waved at the house and called out that their grass looks good. He paused, anticipating a reply. He assumed we weren’t heard and repeated his greeting with much more volume, and this time, he accompanied his words with considerable gesticulation. He saw my arms moving too. I was covering my mouth. I didn’t want my laughter escaping.
It feels so good to catch The Commander.
The Commander recommenced walking. He suggested that the guy was absorbed with what he was doing, and as well, probably wasn’t wearing his hearing aid. I suggested that maybe the next time we’re passing by,t he man will respond. I thought I would explode. A little mirth did escape, but by the time it reached my face, it had dissipated into a grin.
As we walked along, I was vigilant. I didn’t want to miss any repeat opportunities. The Commander noticed that I had a new spring in my step. He’s convinced that it was the weather.
Cheers, PW.
P.S. I only fooled him once. But there’ll be other days.
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